Cruzamento industrial sobre as características de carcaça e da carne de novilhas precoces

Abstract

The experiment was carried out with the objective of comparing carcass and meat characteristics of 18 heifers from the following industrial crossbreeds: 1/2 Nelore 1/2 Limousin (L), 1/2 Limousin 1/4 Red Angus 1/4 Nelore (LR), and 5/8 Red Angus 3/8 Nelore (RNR). The heifers were confined at 18 months of age, weighing 280 ± 8.4 kg, during 112 days. After slaughter and carcass cooling, the following traits were evaluated: carcass yield (CY); rib eye area (REA); cushion thickness (CT); fat thickness (FT); carcass length (CL) and leg length (LL); muscle, bone and fat percentages. From Longissimus dorsi muscle samples, the following traits were evaluated: proximate composition; pH; water loss; shear force (SF); sarcomere length (SL); myofibril fragmentation index (MFI). The data were submitted to analysis of variance and the means were compared by Tukey's test at 5% significance. The LR crossbreed showed the best carcass and meat characteristics, with CY=54.72%, CT=27.87 cm, FT=4.53 cm, REA=63.65 cm2, lean meat=64.58%, water loss=26.63%, pH=5.72; SF=2.49 kg, SL=1.91 μm and MFI=83.59.