Chemical composition and fatty acid profile of meat from Bulgarian Grey cattle comparison of three muscles
Teodora Popova
, Krasimir Dimov
, Nikola Chatalbashev, Svetoslav Karamfilov
, Vasil Nikolov
Abstract: The study aimed to compare the chemical composition and the fatty acid profile of three muscles – m. Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (m. LTL), m. Semimembranosus (m. SM) and m. Supraspinatus (m. SP) in male Bulgarian Grey calves. The animals were 12 months old and reared extensively on stable pasture. The three muscles differed significantly in their chemical composition. The highest protein content was determined in m. LTL, while m. SP had the highest level of intramuscular fat, moisture, and myoglobin. The analysis of the fatty acid profile showed a significant effect of the muscle type regarding the percentage of C16:0 (P=0.0313), C16:1 (P=0.0040), C18:0 (P=0.0016), C18:2n-6 (P=0.0292), C20:2n-6 (P=0.0029), C20:4n-6 (P=0.0158), C22:4n-6 (P=0.0168), and C22:5n-3 (P=0.0062), among the three muscles, m. LTL had the highest percentage of C16:0 and C18:2n-6, and the lowest percentages of C16:1n-9 and C22:4n-6. The content of С18:0 was highest in m. SP, whereas m. SM displayed the highest amounts of C20:2n-6, C20:4n-6, C20:5n-3, C22:4n-6, and С22:5n-3. There were no significant differences in AI and TI among the muscles; however, the latter tended to be higher in m. SP. In addition, the n-6/n-3 ratio values did not differ between the muscles. In m.SM and m.SP’s values were within 5.22-5.26, slightly exceeding the dietary recommendations.
Keywords: Bulgarian Grey cattle; chemical composition; fatty acids; meat quality; muscles
Citation: Popova, T., Dimov, K., Chatalbashev, N., Karamfilov, S. & Nikolov, V. (2025). Chemical composition and fatty acid profile of meat from Bulgarian Grey cattle – comparison of three muscles. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 31(6), 1203–1208
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| Date published: 2025-12-16
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