**4. Conclusions**

Use of integral analysis of MCA was able to separate barley and corn from blended grain-fed beef based on aroma/flavor profile, descriptive sensory attributes, and volatile compounds. The fatty acid profile of the meat samples suggested an influence of barley and corn in blended grain-fed beef on n-6 LCFA deposition, which could have increased their oxidation potential. This effect was supported by some aldehydes and alcohols from PUFA oxidation, undesirable aromas and flavor descriptors, and negative categories for descriptive sensory traits associated with the blended grain-fed beef samples. Barley and corn grain-fed beef were also differentiated, although with lower explained variance in the MCA; barley grain-fed beef was associated with volatile compounds originating a

pleasant beef flavor, whereas corn grain-fed beef was linked to some volatile compounds from lipid oxidation. However, corn grain-fed beef was more associated with positive categories for tenderness. Nevertheless, apart from the positive association of beef flavor intensity with barley grain-fed beef, no flavor descriptors were associated with either barley or corn grain-fed beef, which may sugges<sup>t</sup> that the different volatiles associated with barley and corn grain-fed beef in this study did not translate into differences in meat flavor detected by the trained panelists. Hence, a further quantitative approach to understand the volatile thresholds and their influence on meat palatability would be warranted in order to maximize the potential of volatile compounds to anticipate consumer satisfaction. In addition, even though feeding blended grain-fed diets may at times be economically feasible, the interaction between different fed grains leading to oxidative instability may be an unanticipated outcome, and thus deserves further attention.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/ 10.3390/foods10050977/s1, Table S1: Mean of standardized base peak of non-selected volatile compounds from barley, corn and blended grain-fed beef samples. Table S2: Mean and standard deviation of sensory descriptive and flavour profile attributes from barley, corn and blended grain-fed beef samples.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, N.P., W.B.-H., and J.L.A.; methodology, N.P., J.S., Ó.L.-C., M.J., G.P., P.V., M.E.R.D., and J.L.A.; formal analysis, N.P. and W.B.-H.; resources, N.P., J.L.A., and G.P.; data curation, M.E.R.D.; writing—original draft preparation, N.P., W.B.-H., and M.E.R.D.; writing— review and editing, N.P., J.S., Ó.L.-C., M.J., G.P., P.V., M.E.R.D., L.M.-L., and J.L.A.; visualization, N.P. and W.B.-H.; supervision, N.P. and J.L.A.; project administration, J.L.A.; funding acquisition, J.L.A. and G.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** The production study was funded by the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (Saskatoon, SK, Canada), DuPont Pioneer, the Saskatchewan Cattleman's Association, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and the Canada-Saskatchewan Growing Forward 2.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of University of Saskatchewan (protocol 20100021).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Acknowledgments:** G. Penner thanks Jordan Johnson, Britney Sutherland, and Teresa Binetruy for their assistance in live animal husbandry. AAFC-Lacombe authors thank Chuck Pimm and the meat-processing staff, as well as Ivy Larsen and the meat technical team for their assistance in meat processing, laboratory analyses, and statistical analyses of the data. All authors thank Ryan Clisdell, Cargill Meat Solutions, for tracking the cattle lot and in-plant rib-eye collection.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
