Effects Of Steam-Flaked Corn On Growth Performance And Beef Quality In Finishing Steers

To study the effects of feeding different levels of Steam-Flaked Corn on performance, biochemical indexes of blood and carcass quality of beef.Twenty-eight Simmental crossed steers with the weight 414kg and similar behavior of healthy,were selected and randomly divided into 4 groups (n=7) according to a single factorial design,experimentⅠgroup (0%),experimentⅡgroup(30%),experimentⅢgroup (60%) and experimentⅣgroup(90%).The results showed that:(1)Growth performance:After feeding 120 days,with the levels of Steam-Flaked Corn increase,the average final weight of the four groups cattle had significant difference(P<0.05),total weight gain and average daily gain(ADG) were significantly different(P<0.01),with the experimentⅣgroup was the highest and control group was the lowest.Steam-Flaked Corn can obviously improve the beef cattle growth rate,average daily gain rised from 985.3g/d to 1351.4g/d,improving 37.16%.(2) The apparent digestibility of nutrients:The apparent digestibility of nutrients tended to be higher with the levels of Steam-Flaked Corn increased.The apparent digestibility of the crude protein, the crude fiber and the calcium were high than control group were high.The apparent digestibility of the crude protein, the crude fiber and the calcium were the highest in the experimentⅣgroup,raising separately 4.25% (P<0.05), 2.76% (P<0.05) and 27.00% (P<0.01)than control group.(3)Carcass quality:With the development of Steam-Flaked Corn level,the Slaughter former live weight,Carcass heavy,slaughter rate and prime cuts yield were higher. when the proportion was 90% ,theirs value were maximum and respectively increased 10.43%, 15.86%,4.95% and 16.07% than control group significantly(P<0.01).The eyemusclearea, pure meat percentage and marbling were tended to be higher with the levels of Steam-Flaked Corn increased,but no no significant difference was found(P>0.05).(4)Nutrition content of beef:Steam-Flaked Corn can enhance protein and fat content of beef significantly,other nutrient content is not significant.Protein and fat content of the treatmentⅡgroup respectively increased 2.26%(P>0.05) and 27.27%(P<0.01) than control group,Protein and fat content of the treatmentⅢgroup respectively increased 6.44%(P<0.05) and 60.91%(P<0.01)than control group,Protein and fat content of the treatmentⅣgroup respectively increased 9.02%(P<0.01) and 61.82%(P<0.01)than control group.(5)Beef quality:Different Steam-Flaked Corn level affect meat cooking rate and water loss of beef.The experimentⅣgroup meat cooking rate is highest,its value is 53.70%, enhanced 9.55% than control group significantly(P<0.01).The experimentⅣgroup water loss is lowest, its value is 34.27%,reduced 11.38% than control group significantly(P<0.01).(6)Prime cuts yield:The prime cuts yield is highest in the experimentⅣgroup, its value is 178.62kg,enhanced 11.03% than control group significantly(P<0.01).The weight of Tenderloin,Abdomen flesh,Knuckle and Tendons were higher with the levels of Steam-Flaked Corn increased(P<0.05),and they were the highest in the experimentⅣgroup,their value were 7.17kg, 13.36kg, 14.42kg and 23.18kg,respectively enhancing 20.71% ,26.16 %,15.92% and 17.31%.(7)Biochemical indexes of blood:All the biochemical indexes of blood were fluctuated within the normal range.The content of blood sugar,triglyceride and cholesterol had no marked difference among the experiment groups (P>0.05).Serum urea nitrogen(SUN)were decreased,its value was lowest in he experimentⅣgroup, marked decreasing than control group significantly(P<0.05).Glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase activity of the treatmentⅡgroup respectively increased 0.38%(P>0.05) and 2.63%(P>0.05)than control group,Glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase activity of the treatmentⅢgroup respectively increased 34.80%(P<0.05) and 12.72%(P<0.05)than control group, Glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase activity of the treatmentⅣgroup respectively increased 35.34%(P<0.05) and 15.33%(P<0.01)than control group.(8)Economic effectiveness:Weight increment income of everyday each cow in treatment groups respectively increased 2.64 Yuan, 3.43 Yuan and 3.64 Yuan than control group respectively.The breed benefit of experimental group is respectively 2.50 Yuan, 4.96 Yuan,5.93 Yuan,and 6.14 Yuan.The study showed that: increasing Steam-Flaked Corn level of diets can enhance beef cattle growth rate and feed profit significantly, also, it can improve fat deposition, carcass quality, and prime cuts yield .Beef quality has some correlation with Steam-Flaked Corn level of diets, the total trend is that with the development of Steam-Flaked Corn level, the beef quality is better. There is a positive correlativity of Steam-Flaked Corn level and economic benefit. The consequence of this research showed that the optimal replacing ratio was 60%～90%.