Meat composition and quality of young growing Belgian Blue bulls offered a fattening diet with selenium enriched cereals

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of selenium (Se) enrichment of cereals on the performance of Belgian Blue bulls, meat quality and chemical composition. Twenty-three bulls were used in the present study. Twelve bulls were offered a control diet containing Se at a basal concentration of 58 mu g kg(-1) of dry matter (DM) and the other 11 bulls were given a diet containing 173 mu g kg(-1) DM of Se by means of Se-enriched spelt and barley. The Se enrichment of the diet did not affect the growth performance, the slaughter data or meat quality (P > 0.05). There were no effects of Se on tenderness, oxidative rancidity and water losses. However, there were some effects of Se enrichment on the meat chemical composition. The ether extract was decreased from 2.1 to 1.7% DM (P<0.05). There was also significant Se enrichment (P<0.001) in the longissimus thoracis muscle (177 vs. 477 ng g(-1) DM) and organs: liver (474 vs. 1126 ng g(-1) DM) and kidney (4956 vs. 5655 ng g(-1) DM), Under such conditions, the human consumption of a piece of such meat or liver can provide a large part of the recommended daily Se intake, estimated between 30 and 57%.