Fatty acids intake and deposition in the Longissimus of Nellore steers supplemented at pasture.

The aim of this work was to study the correlation between intake and deposition of fatty acids in the Longissimus muscle of Nellore steers supplemented at pasture. The fieldwork was implanted in an area of 52 ha, formed of Brachiaria brizantha. Forty Nellore steers with initial average weight of 373.7 ± 14.9 kg and 26 months of age were used. The animals were distributed into four treatments: Control= T00 (supply only mineral salt), T03= Supply of concentrate in the amount of 0.3 % of Body Weight; T06= Supply of concentrate in the amount of 0.6 % of Live Weight , T09= Supply of concentrate in the amount of 0.9 % of live weight. Samples of concentrates and forages were collected for fatty acids analysis. The experiment lasted for 98 days. After this period the animals were slaughtered. Longissimus samples were vacuum packed and frozen for analysis of fatty acid composition. The results were statistically analyzed by estimating Pearson linear correlation coefficients. The results showed that there are correlations between the fatty acids consumed and fatty acids deposited in the muscle.