AUTHOR=Cheng Qiming , Xu Duhan , Chen Yulian , Zhu Mingming , Fan Xueyin , Li Maoya , Tang Xiaolong , Liao Chaosheng , Li Ping , Chen Chao 

TITLE=Influence of Fermented-Moutai Distillers' Grain on Growth Performance, Meat Quality, and Blood Metabolites of Finishing Cattle

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.874453

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2022.874453

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>The present study evaluated the effect of dietary supplementation with fermented-Moutai distillers' grain (FMDG) on the growth performance, meat quality, amino acid composition and blood metabolites of finishing cattle. Thirty cattle (2 years old; 237.55 ± 10.72 kg) were randomly assigned to one of three dietary supplementations: 0% FMDG (control), 15% FMDG (R1) and 30% FMDG (R2) [dry matter (DM) basis]. After 60 days, the inclusion of FMDG had no significant (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05) effects on the growth performance indices (dry matter intake, average daily gain and feed efficiency), meat quality (cooking yield, shear force, L<sup>*</sup>, a<sup>*</sup>, and b<sup>*</sup> values) or bovine blood biochemical indicators (except albumin and immunoglobulin A). Cattle fed R1 had the lowest (<italic>p</italic> = 0.001) loin eye area. Supplementation with FMDG significantly (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) increased the beef contents of various amino acids (except isoleucine and arginine) compared with the control diet. Specifically, R2 significantly increased (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) the total amino acid, essential amino acid, non-essential amino acid and umami amino acid contents in beef, while the difference in bitter amino acid content between different treatments was not significant (<italic>p</italic> = 0.165). These results suggest that it is feasible to include FMDG at up to 30% DM without affecting the growth performance, meat quality or blood metabolites of finishing cattle.</p>