. 2022 Jan 1;42(1):18–33. doi: 10.5851/kosfa.2021.e73

Table 3. Comparison of mean unsaturated fatty acid composition expressed as mg/100 g of meat between grass-fed and grain-fed beef.

Author (publication year)	Feeding system	Breed	Beef cut/muscle location	Fat content	Polyunsaturated fatty acid (mg/100 g meat)
Author (publication year)	Feeding system	Breed	Beef cut/muscle location	Fat content	C18:2 n-6	C18:3 n-3	C20:4 n-6	C20:5 n-3	C22:5 n-3	C22:6 n-3	Total PUFA	Total n-6	Total n-3	n-6/n-3 ratio
Najar-Villarreal et al. (2019)	Grass-fed	NR	Ground beef	15.7 (% crude fat)	372.5^*	40.3	50.3^*	5.8^*	17.3^*	1.7^*	621.3	451.6^*	66.2^*	1,127.5^*
Najar-Villarreal et al. (2019)	Grain-fed	Angus	Ground beef	19.8 (% crude fat)	551.4^*	38.1	43.5^*	1.8^*	12.7^*	9.1^*	814.3	623.9^*	58.0^*	1,976.9^*
Hwang and Joo (2017)	Grass-fed	Hanwoo	Sirloin	5.94 (% crude fat)	105.0^*	52.8^*	9.2	6.5^*	NR	4.4^*	201.3^*	134.9^*	66.4^*	110.5
	Grain-fed	Hanwoo	Sirloin	25.39 (% crude fat)	523.3^*	39.5^*	48.8	11.6^*	NR	7.0^*	748.9^*	686.1^*	62.8^*	2,542.0
	Grass-fed	Australian beef	Sirloin	5.15 (% crude fat)	79.7^*	42.9^*	10.4	3.3^*	NR	3.8^*	166.1^*	113.7^*	52.4^*	102.4
	Grain-fed	American beef	Sirloin	10.22 (% crude fat)	194.7^*	44.0^*	20.6	1.9^*	NR	4.7^*	316.4^*	264.0^*	52.4^*	471.8
Turner et al. (2015)	Grass-fed	NR	Ribeye	38.26 (mg/g muscle)	113.9	37.5^*	37.5^*	11.6^*	23.8^*	2.1^*	243.9^*	168.6	75.3^*	86.2^*
Turner et al. (2015)	Grain-fed	NR	Ribeye	84.90 (mg/g muscle)	203.8	19.4^*	49.0^*	4.7^*	15.6^*	1.6^*	324.3^*	283.1	41.2^*	695.2^*
Duckett et al. (2013)	Grass-fed	Angus	Ribeye, strip	2.6 (% total fat)	61.2	28.1	20.7	12.9	20.0	20.7	147.7	81.9	63.1	31.0
Duckett et al. (2013)	Grain-fed	Angus	Ribeye, strip	6.7 (% total fat)	166.3	14.9	32.4	5.6	13.1	1.9	236.7	198.1	34.9	374.4
Aldai et al. (2011)	Grass-fed	Asturian valley cattle	Ribeye/L. thoracis	NR	14.6 (%)	3.5 (%)^*	3.2 (%)	1.0 (%)	1.3 (%)	0.1 (%)	130.5	99.2	31.2^*	3.3^*
Aldai et al. (2011)	Grain-fed	Asturian valley cattle	Ribeye/L. thoracis	NR	11.3 (%)	1.3 (%)^*	2.3 (%)	0.7 (%)	0.9 (%)	0.1 (%)	158.1	130.6	27.5^*	4.9^*
Alfaia et al. (2009)	Grass-fed	Alentejano purebred	Sirloin/L. lumborum	9.76 (mg/g muscle)	112.2	49.4^*	36.1^*	19.0^*	22.9^*	1.8^*	259.2^*	160.7^*	93.1^*	15.8^*
Alfaia et al. (2009)	Grain-fed	Alentejano purebred	Sirloin/L. lumborum	13.03 (mg/g muscle)	142.6	5.7^*	45.4^*	5.6^*	10.9^*	1.3^*	227.5^*	203.9^*	23.5^*	107.3^*
Ponnampalam et al. (2006)	Grass-fed	Angus	Sirloin/L. lumborum	2.12 (% of muscle)	108.8^*	32.4^*	NR	24.5^*	36.5^*	4.2	NR	191.6^*	97.6^*	2.0
Ponnampalam et al. (2006)	Grain-fed	Angus	Sirloin/L. lumborum	3.61 (% of muscle)	167.4^*	14.9^*	NR	13.1^*	31.6^*	3.7	NR	253.8^*	63.3^*	3.6
Realini et al. (2004)	Grass-fed	Hereford	Ground beef	11.43a (% total fat)	185.3^*	64.9^*	8.4^*	NR	NR	NR	4.4^*	NR	NR	NR
Realini et al. (2004)	Grain-fed	Angus-Hereford	Ground beef	24.57b (% total fat)	335.3^*	40.5^*	24.8^*	NR	NR	NR	2.6^*	NR	NR	NR

Between grass-fed and grain-fed beef studies followed by asterisk indicates significant difference (at least p<0.05); NR, not reported; C18:2n-6, linoleic acid; C18:3n-3, linolenic acid; C20:4n-6, arachidonic acid; C20:5n-3, eicosapentanoic acid; C22:5n-3, docosapentanoic acid; C22:6n-3, docosahexanoic acid; n-6, omega-6 fatty acids; n-3, omega-3 fatty acids; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids.