Fatty acid profile and carcass traits of feedlot Nellore cattle fed crude glycerin and virginiamycin

Forty-eight bulls with an initial body weight (BW) of 408.4 ± 22.2 kg (age = 21 ± 2 months) were used in a randomized complete block design arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The treatments were diets without virginiamycin (VM−) or with virginiamycin, at 25 mg/kg of dry matter (DM, VM+), and diets without crude glycerin (CG−) or with crude glycerin, at 100 g/kg DM (CG+). The cold carcass weight and cold carcass dressing (P ≤ 0.05) was greater in bulls fed crude glycerin diets. Total unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) were 6.08% higher, and cooking weight loss was 10% lower in bulls fed CG+ diets, compared to bulls fed CG− diets (P = 0.0081). Crude glycerin at 100 g/kg DM could be a suitable replacement for VM, as it led to a slight increase in UFA deposition in meat. However, simultaneous administration of VM and CG did not positively affect performance and carcass traits of feedlot Nellore cattle. •Crude glycerin increases unsaturated fatty acids in meat.•Diets with virginiamycin tend to increase feed efficiency.•Diets with crude glycerin reduce the cooking loss in the longissimus muscle.•The inclusion of crude glycerin decreases slightly total saturated fatty acids in meat.