Buffalo meat is tast
y and indistinguishable from beef, and has been described as being lean and low in cholesterol in comparison with beef. However, little is known about the plasma hormone and metabolic profiles related to fat metabolism in buffalo, and how their levels are affected b
y species and sex. In this stud
y levels of plasma hormones and metabolites were compared between species and sexes. Ten growing crossbred Brahman cattle and ten growing crossbred buffaloes (five males and five females in each), with an average age of 22 months were used. The animals were fed on an experimental diet composed of corn silage, brewer's spent grain and a concentrate mixture at a 50:30:20 ratio on a dr
y matter basis during a fattening period of 6 months. Blood samples were collected ever
y month during the experiment, and were anal
ysed for plasma leptin, insulin, glucose, trigl
yceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) concentrations. Plasma leptin, insulin and TC concentrations increased during fattening and were significantl
y (
P < 0.05) higher in cattle than in buffaloes. These concentrations in cattle showed a big difference between sexes in comparison with buffaloes, and were higher in females than in males. The plasma glucose and TG concentrations did not differ (
P > 0.05) between cattle and buffaloes.
The crude fat content of longissimus muscle was significantly higher in cattle than in buffalo. Differences in body fat deposition seem to have an influence on plasma leptin, insulin and TC concentrations differently between cattle and buffaloes.