Effect of Selenium Sources on Meat Quality of Hanwoo Steers

This study was conducted to investigate the feeding effect of selenium provided by different sources on the physico-chemical properties of M. longissimus thoracis. Twenty Hanwoo steers(20 24 months, approximately 613 kg) were assigned to 4 different feeding groups of each five, depending on the sources of selenium such as inorganic selenium(sodium selenite), organic selenium(Yeast, USA Sel-Plex), Se-SMC(Se-spent mushroom compost) and the control(no selenium). The selenium level in feed was 0.9 ppm for all groups except the control. Animals were fed with different feeding treatments for 12 weeks and slaughtered at National Livestock Research Institute. The inorganic selenium group had the highest cooking loss(CL. %) and followed by the Se-SMC group and organic selenium group. No significant differences in chemical composition, WB-shear forces, water-holding capacity(WHC) and sensory properties were found among the groups(P>0.05). There were 40% frequencies of grade A in the inorganic selenium group and followed by the organic selenium group(20%). Se-SMC group had 80% of frequencies for grade 1+ and followed by the inorganic selenium group(40%), whereas the organic selenium group and the control group had the 20% frequencies for grade 1+. From the results of this study showed that the selenium sources did not affect chemical composition, WHC and tenderness of Hanwoo steers. However, the inorganic selenium group had the highest cooking loss(%) and lowest pH when compared to the other groups.