Vitamin A administration at birth promotes calf growth and intramuscular fat development in Angus beef cattle.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Marbling, or intramuscular fat, is an important factor contributing to the palatability of beef. Vitamin A, through its active metabolite, retinoic acid, promotes the formation of new fat cells (adipogenesis). As intramuscular adipogenesis is active during the neonatal stage, we hypothesized that vitamin A administration during the neonatal stage would enhance intramuscular adipogenesis and marbling.

Methods

Angus steer calves (n = 30), in a completely randomized design, were randomly allotted to three treatment groups at birth, receiving 0, 150,000, or 300,000 IU of vitamin A at both birth and one month of age. A biopsy of the biceps femoris muscle was collected at two months of age. After weaning at 210 d of age, steers were fed a backgrounding die

SUBMITTER: Harris CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6055337 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature