earticle

영어

This study was carried out to elucidate the effect of antibiotic-free rearing system(ARS) on cortisol level, stress hormone, and fatty acid content in the edible muscle tissues, that were of M. longissimus in Hanwoo. These cattle were reared in two different systems including antibiotic-free (ARS) and conservative system (CRS). To increase the experimental reliability, the muscle samples were purchased 3 times from 3 Korean brands of beef produced with ARS or CRS. In the muscle tissue, cortisol level was significantly lower in ARS than CRS, (p=0.0176). But the levels of total saturated- and unsaturated-fatty acids were not significantly different between ARS and CRS (p>0.05). Of total fatty acids, the total saturated fatty acid tended to be greater in CRS and the total unsaturated fatty acid tended to be greater in ARS. However, of the total unsaturated fatty acids, the level of n-6 unsaturated fatty acids was significantly higher in ARS than CRS (p=0.0040). Especially, α-linolenic acid (ALA) and γ-linolenic acid (GLA) levels were significantly higher in ARS (p<0.01). The n-6 fatty acid content and cortisol level in muscle tissue were negatively correlated at p=0.0140. In conclusion, ARS may produce beef with higher quality which contains lower cortisol and greater n-6 fatty acids, such as ALA and GLA.