This work was conducted in Canterbury, New Zealand, from October 2021 to January 2022 to evaluate the effect of red deer (Cervus elaphus) grazing taxonomically and phytochemically rich functional swards as opposed to a simple (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens), swards (PRG), on plant, animal, and venison metabolomic profiles associated with human health.
Thirty-one yearlings were randomly assigned one of three treatments consisting of either PRG, a complex multispecies mixed sward (CMS, n = 22 species), and adjacent monoculture sward of ryegrass, plantain (plantago lancelota), chicory (Chicorium intybus), red clover (Trifolium pratense), and lucerne (Medicago sativa), arranged in longitudinal strips across the paddock (AMS).
Metabolomic analyses were performed on plant and meat samples. Animals under AMS gained 30 % and 34 % more weight than their counterparts in PRG and CMS, respectively. Plasma concentration of total antioxidants increased over summer. Many semi-polar metabolites were elevated in AMS herbage and venison, while their levels in PRG and CMS were similar.
The AMS herbage contained greater levels of proline betaine compared with PRG and CMS herbage, which was reflected in venison. Pipecolate levels were also elevated coming in venison from AMS compared with CMS or PRG. Both pipecolate and proline betaine can have health-promoting implications in red deer and human consumers.
This research is the first to describe metabolomic profiles of venison as a response to herbage composition/dietary diversity and could provide a linkage between and grazing management and consumer health variables, though further evaluation is required.
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