*3.2. Meat Quality*

A statistically significant difference was obtained for drip loss measured after 48 h of storage (*p* = 0.000) (Table 5), which was higher in the CON group than in the tanninsupplemented group. In the two-week old samples, all tannin-supplemented groups showed significantly higher thawing loss than the CON group (*p* = 0.008). Additionally, the lowest cooking loss of aged meat was observed in the CON group.


**Table 4.** Effect of supplemented hydrolyzable tannins on carcass quality of Limousin bulls during a 213-day trial.

No tannin additive in the diet (CON); 10 g of mixture (HT + soy protein additive) per animal—1.0 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 1); 15 g of HT additive per animal—1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 2); and 15 g of HT additive per animal added to the TMR diet with reduced quantity of concentrate in nominal value—1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 3). \* Carcass classification system (EUROP) evaluating the conformation—scale 1 (poorest) to 15 (best). \*\* Carcass classification system (EUROP) evaluating the fatness-scale 1 (least) to 15 (fattest). *p*-value lower than 0.05, the result is considered significant.

**Table 5.** Effect of supplemented hydrolyzable tannins on meat quality parameters of Limosin bull muscles.


No tannin additive in the diet (CON); 10 g of mixture (HT + soy protein additive) per animal—1.0 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 1); 15 g of HT additive per animal—1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 2); and 15 g of HT additive per animal added to the TMR diet with reduced quantity of concentrate in nominal value—1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 3). a,b Mean values in the same row with a different letter are significantly different (*p* < 0.05) ± standard error of the mean. L\* = lightness; a\* = redness; b\* = yellowness; marbling 1 = visually assessed on a freshly cut *Longissimus dorsi* (LD) using a scale from 1 (extremely lean) to 10 (extremely marbled sample); WBSF, Warner–Bratzler shear force; IMF, intramuscular fat.

## *3.3. Clostridia Counts*

The total number of *Clostridia* was determined by the MPN method. No significant difference was found among groups in the total number of *Clostridia* before (*p* = 0.173) and after (*p* = 0.582) the feeding trial (Figure 1).

**Figure 1.** Total number of *Clostridia* in fecal samples before and after tannin supplementation determined by the most probable number method. No tannin additive in the diet (CON); 10 g of mixture (HT + soy protein additive) per animal—1.0 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 1); 15 g of HT additive per animal —1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 2); and 15 g of HT additive per animal added to the TMR diet with reduced quantity of concentrate in nominal value—1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 3).

The concentrations of individual Clostridium species (*C. perfringens* and *C. sporogenes*) were analyzed with selective *Clostridia* enrichment and counting analysis. The results were counted and ranged within four concentration classes (Figure 2). All four ranges reflect the initial concentrations in the samples.

No significant differences between the treatments were observed at the beginning of the feeding trial for *C. perfringens* (*p* = 0.764) and *C. sporogenes* (*p* = 0.979). At the end of the feeding trial, there were no differences in the *C. sporogenes* concentrations between the groups. Differences in concentrations of *C. perfringens* were detected (*p* = 0.004) between treatments. The lowest concentration was determined for the TAN 1 group.

**Figure 2.** Concentration of selected *Clostridia* in 1 g of fecal samples before and after tannin supplementation. No tannin additive in the diet (CON); 10 g of mixture (HT + soy protein additive) per animal—1.0 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 1); 15 g of HT additive per animal—1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 2); and 15 g of HT additive per animal added to the TMR diet with reduced quantity of concentrate in nominal value—1.5 g kg−<sup>1</sup> DM (TAN 3). Number 0 = no growth; number 1 = 1–10 colonies; number 2 = 11–50 colonies; number 3 => 50 colonies; a, b different superscript letters indicate differences (Dunn–Bonferroni post hoc test; *p* < 0.05) between treatments.
