Beef products become higher quality

FBN presents cooperation with Greifswalder meat and sausage specialty manufacturers at the International Green Week in Berlin

Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Dummerstorf (FBN) were able to demonstrate for the first time that a higher content of health-promoting n-3 fatty acids (omega-3 fatty acids) in the beef of Holstein Bullen is also produced in the meat and sausage products produced from them preserved. This is a central result of an industry and research cooperation between the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf and Greifswald-based meat and sausage specialty manufacturer Greifen-Fleisch GmbH. The collaboration is part of the European research network "ProSafeBeef", which brings together 41 research institutes and industrial companies from 18 countries (see the background). The results are from Friday, 21. January to Sunday, 30. January 2011 presented at the International Green Week in Berlin (see DATE).

To date, not all of the physiological and nutritional properties of beef have been clarified. For example, there are generally few n-3 fatty acids in this meat. However, if the cattle are fed grass or grass silage (high-quality feed made from meadow or field grass preserved through lactic acid fermentation), the content of health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids and the ratio of n-3 to n, which is important for the human cardiovascular system, increase -6 fatty acids become cheaper. In the long-term study, Holstein bulls were fed a ration enriched with n-3 fatty acids, which led to an accumulation of these vital fatty acids both in the muscle tissue of the animals and in the products made from them. After slaughter, the n-3 fatty acid levels in the meat and fat of the test animals as well as the end products corned beef and tea sausage from Greifen-Fleisch GmbH were analyzed and evaluated at the FBN. During the technological processing of the meat by the industrial partner, no changes in the content or pattern of the enriched n-3 fatty acids were measurable. Greifen-Fleisch was able to offer these products enriched with n-3 fatty acids as part of the project and thus pass the high-quality end product on to the consumer.

Like n-3 fatty acids, N-6 fatty acids are a special group of unsaturated fatty acids. They are essential (essential) fatty acids and cannot be produced by the human body. In the right ratio, n-6 and n-3 fatty acids have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system. They also lower blood lipid levels and are vital for the structure and function of the brain and eye.

BACKGROUND: EU project ProSafeBeef

The European research association ProSafeBeef, which has been set up for five years since 2007, pursues the central goal of improving the quality and safety of beef and beef products in the development and production for the consumer. The result is innovative beef products that meet the high demands on nutritional quality. The project is funded with EU funds amounting to 10,9 million euros. The working group "Function of bioactive lipids", which is part of the research area Muscle Biology and Growth and is headed by Dr. Karin Nuremberg.

DATE - International Green Week Berlin

Friday, January 21 to Sunday, January 30, 2011 Exhibition Center Berlin, Wundtstraße 72, 14057 Berlin FBN stand, site of the special exhibition of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Hall 23

The Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology was founded in 1993 as a foundation under public law and is an institution of the Leibniz Association. It currently includes 86 research institutes and scientific infrastructure facilities for research as well as three associated members. The orientation of the Leibniz Institutes ranges from the natural, engineering and environmental sciences to economics, social and spatial sciences to the humanities.

Leibniz institutes work strategically and thematically on issues of importance to society as a whole. The federal and state governments therefore jointly support the Leibniz Association's institutes. The Leibniz Institutes employ around 16.100 people, of whom approx. 7.100 are scientists, of which 2.800 are young researchers. More details under www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de

Source: Dummerstorf / Berlin [FBN]