Les relations entre la tendreté et la composition en acides gras des viandes bovines sont elles stables selon le sexe et la race

Regarding beef meat, consumers have specific expectations especially concerning meat quality traits (tenderness and taste especially) but also nutritional value of meat (fatty acid composition in particular). Thus, the aim of the present work was to determine to what extent the choice of animal breed and type will meet the consumer’s expectations. The study concerned 75 young bulls from three different breeds (Blond d’Aquitaine, Limousin, Angus) and 13 Charolais heifers. Overall, the oxidative metabolism appears associated with higher tenderness but lower nutritional value of meat (less polyunsaturated fatty acids, more saturated ones). However, for a given breed / a given type of animal, it is difficult to associate clearly a kind of fatty acid composition and a level of tenderness, letting us suppose that a trade-off has to be established, in order to satisfy the various consumers’ expectations.