Table 1. Carcass characteristics, blood, and fatty acid compositions of short-term and long-term fatten stage bovine steers

Parameters Short-term (n = 12) Long-term (n = 10) p-value
Carcass traits
 Carcass weight (kg) 483.8 ± 10.7 460.1 ± 14.2 ns
 Backfat thickness (mm) 19.8 ± 1.7 10.1 ± 0.8 < 0.001
 Marbling score 6.2 ± 0.1 6.3 ± 0.2 0.195
 Meat yield grade 60 ± 1.3 67.7 ± 0.7 < 0.001
Blood analysis
 Glucose (FBS) (mg/dL) 120.30 ± 7.83 99.62 ± 8.33 0.0019
 Insulin (μg/L) 2.37 ± 0.27 8.59 ± 1.64 0.0015
 Triglyceride (mg/dL) 22.83 ± 1.44 21.00 ± 2.13 0.4899
 HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) 120.00 ± 0.00 102.85 ± 5.10 0.0093
 LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) 81.67 ± 6.37 31.38 ± 2.34 < 0.001
 Cholesterol (mg/dL) 174.83 ± 10.04 122.15 ± 6.54 0.0009
 Total lipid (mg/dL) 399.92 ± 32.46 295.85 ± 13.69 0.0058
 Crude fat 20.60 ±1.14 18.97 ± 1.39 ns
Fatty acid (%)
 Myristic acid, C14:0 2.86 ± 0.15 2.87 ± 0.16 ns
 Palmitic acid, C16:0 30.54 ± 0.72 28.55 ± 0.7 ns
 Palmitoleic acid, C16:1n7 4.02 ± 0.23 4.51 ± 0.28 ns
 Steric acid, C18:0 10.40 ± 0.48 11.15 ± 0.49 ns
 Oleic acid, C18:1n9 48.47 ± 1.06 49.61 ± 0.69 ns
 Vaccenic acid, C18:1n7 0.52 ± 0.06 0.45 ± 0.04 ns
 Linoleic acid, C18:2n6 2.71 ± 0.17 2.28 ± 0.16 ns
 γ-Linolenic acid, C18:3n6 0.03 ± 0.002 0.04 ± 0.03 0.0367
 α-Linolenic acid, C18:3n3 0.07 ± 0.003 0.08 ± 0.008 ns
 Eicosenoic acid, C20:1n9 0.27 ± 0.04 0.32 ± 0.04 ns
 Arachidonic acid, C20:4n6 0.08 ± 0.006 0.10 ± 0.006 0.0053
 Adrenic acid, C22:4n6 0.03 ± 0.002 0.04 ± 0.003 0.0146
 Saturated fatty acid (SFA) 43.80 ± 1.12 42.57 ± 0.91 ns
 Unsaturated fatty acid (USFA) 56.20 ± 1.12 57.43 ± 0.91 ns
 Monosaturated fatty acid (MUFA; Mono) 53.28 ± 1.07 54.89 ± 0.83 ns
 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; Poly) 2.91 ± 0.17 2.54 ± 0.17 ns
 ω3, n3 0.07 ± 0.003 0.08 ± 0.008 ns
 ω3, n6 2.84 ± 0.17 2.46 ± 0.17 ns
 Ratio, n6/n3 40.70 ± 1.86 32.04 ± 2 0.0045
 MUFA/SFA 1.23 ± 0.06 1.30 ± 0.05 ns
 PUFA/SFA 0.07 ± 0.005 0.06 ± 0.005 ns
All values are mean ± SEM.
ns, not significant; FBS, fasting blood sugar; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; SEM, standard error of means.