Beef from pasture-finished cattle contains significantly higher concentrations of stachydrine, hippuric acid, citric acid, succinic acid, and fumaric acid than beef from grain-fed cattle, and beef from grain-fed cattle with or without grapeseed extract shows no significant difference in these compounds.

When cattle eat grass, they consume plants that contain natural compounds like stachydrine, citric acid, and succinic acid. These compounds are absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream and deposited directly into muscle. At the same time, the grass diet increases the amount of certain fats that the body burns for energy, which speeds up a cellular energy process that produces more citric acid and succinic acid. This dual process—direct transfer from plants and increased internal production—raises the levels of these compounds in beef. Adding grape byproducts to grain-fed cattle does not change these levels because the amount used is too small to be absorbed or have any effect.