Purpose

Consumption of beef and milk is said to be down in the U.S. by at least 20% since the 1970s. Negative perception on the part of the public concerning fears over the connection between the saturated fat found in beef and milk and heart disease and cancer appear to be contributing factors.

Thesis is: If you find a way of reducing saturated fats, consumption of the two above products will increase. If consumption of beef and milk rise, then the utilization of corn and soybeans as feed will also increase.

This project has as its premise that this trend can be reversed by improving public perception of beef and milk through the development of "health-friendly", nutraceutical-laden products.

Currently, the most promising nutraceutical in beef and milk is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a mixture of positional and geometric fatty acid isomers. These isomers have been shown to have significant potential health benefits.

The known physiologic benefits of CLA include prevention and reduction of tumors in mammary, stomach and skin tissues, reduction of arteriosclerosis, alleviation of diabetic glucose intolerance, and alternation of fat metabolism and lean body mass.

The daily CLA intakes that humans need to achieve these benefits are under investigation. Estimates of 0.25 to 3.0 g per day have been suggested. This is a 2 to 15-fold increase over current estimates of CLA intake in the U.S. population.

The most viable method of achieving these increased levels of CLA intake is increased consumption of CLA-enhanced beef or milk.

Research Rationale

Pathways for incorporation of CLA in meat or milk include: a) direct incorporation of CLA produced from the rumen; and b); conversion of trans-11 octadecenoic acids (TOA) produced in the rumen to CLA in the tissue. Overall, the amount of CLA that can be incorporated into meat and milk is entirely dependent on the production of CLA and TOA in the rumen by the process of biohydrogenation.

The objective of this research is development of a prediction model that will allow beef and dairy producers to evaluate rations for their ability to generate CLA-enhanced meat or milk.

The researchers believe that given a thorough understanding of the factors that affect ruminal biohydrogenation, a prediction model can be developed that will accurately estimate the ruminal pool of CLA and TOA that will be available for incorporation into meat and milk. Listed objectives are:

• 1a. Utilize dual-flow continuous culture (DFCC) technology to determine ruminal CLA and TOA production due to changes in diet and ruminal conditions.
• 1b. Develop a prediction model for ruminal CLA and TOA production based on data from the DFCC experiments.
• 2. Test the validity of the prediction model under in vivo conditions.

Impact

The research is designed to impact the agriculture sector in two ways:

1. The development of CLA-enhanced meat and milk offers the beef and dairy industry a method for improving consumer's perception of these foods.
2. The production of CLA-enhanced meat and milk should increase the domestic use of corn and soybeans as animal feed.