Effects of dietary addition of bentonite on manure gas emission, health, production, and meat characteristics of hanwoo {Bos taurus coreanae Steers

A study was conducted to determine the dietary effects of a clay mineral (sodium bentonite, NaB) on manure gas emission, health, production, and meat characteristics of Hanwoo steers. Two diets fed to steers included a control diet (concentrate mix and rice straw) and a treatment diet (control diet+1.0% clay mineral/concentrate mix). Dietary NaB addition considerably reduced concentrations of gases (H₂S, SO₂ and NH₃) in the manure of Hanwoo steers. Growing steers fed NaB had similar blood profiles with the exception of lower (p<0.05) concentrations of blood alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase. Dietary NaB addition tended to increase (p = 0.10) live weight by 30 kg at slaughtering and did not affect carcass yield and quality traits. Dietary NaB addition increased concentrations of P (p<0.01), Mg (p<0.01), Na (p<0.01), Zn (p<0.005), K (p = 0.08), Fe (p = 0.08) and Cu (p = 0.07) in the longissimus muscle compared to the control but did not affect (p>0.05) fatty acid composition. The study demonstrated that the dietary addition of a clay mineral could be effective in improving mineral bioavailability to Hanwoo steers, which could be one of the reasons for their improved performance.