Abstract
This experiment was carried out to evaluate the carcass characteristics, chemical composition and fatty acid profile of the Longissimus muscle (LM) of three cattle genetic groups (Puruna, PUR, 11; 1/2 Puruna vs. 1/2 British, PUB, 6 and 1/2 Charolais vs. 1/2 Caracu, CHC, 10) finished in pasture systems. The field work took place at the Lapa Research Farm of the Agronomic Institute of Parana, in the city of Lapa, south Brazil. The animals were fed during the winter with corn silage, cottonseed meal, cracked corn, urea, limestone and mineral salts as sources of protein, as well as an energy supplement, in pasture systems of Brachiaria decumbens Stapf. The animal groups were slaughtered at 20 months of age, at 501±22.6 kg live weight. CHC bulls had higher (p 0.10) between PUR and PUB. Hot carcass dressing percentage was higher (p 0.05) between PUR and CHC bulls. Fat thickness was similar (p>0.10) among all genetic groups. However, the Longissimus area of CHC bulls was greater (p 0.10) the marbling of Longissimus. There was no observed difference (p>0.10) in moisture, ash, crude protein and total cholesterol contents among the three genetic groups. On the other hand, the total lipid percentage was higher (p<0.05) for the PUB genetic group in comparison with PUR and CHC. CLA percentage was highest for PUR animals. However, total CLA amounts were not altered by the different genetic groups.
Highlights
Brazil has the largest commercial cattle herd of the world, and has potential to become the greatest producer of cattle meat for export; there are 159 million heads of cattle, able to produce 8.2 million tons/year of carcasses (Anualpec, 2007), which makes the control of meat quality extremely important to maintain a long-term market.Beef is considered one of the factors that may lead to the development of human cardiovascular diseases, obesity, Cattle breed is one of the most important factors for fat deposition and composition, which needs to be understood because of its genetic transmission
Where: Ax is the peak area of CLA, AIS the peak area of the internal standard (IS), WIS is the weight of IS added to the sample, CFx is the theoretical correction factor calculated based on IS, RRF is the relative response factor = (Ax/AIS)⋅(WIS/Wx), Wx is the weight of the sample, 1.04 = conversion factor necessary to express results as mg of fatty acids per gram of lipids rather than as methyl esters (Mendoza et al, 2005; Padre et al, 2006)
The higher final live weight of Charolais vs. 1/2 Caracu (CHC) animals is due to their greater weight gain along their lifetime as explained by the breeds involved in this genetic group
Summary
Brazil has the largest commercial cattle herd of the world, and has potential to become the greatest producer of cattle meat for export; there are 159 million heads of cattle, able to produce 8.2 million tons/year of carcasses (Anualpec, 2007), which makes the control of meat quality extremely important to maintain a long-term market. Cattle breed is one of the most important factors for fat deposition and composition, which needs to be understood because of its genetic transmission. British cattle are well known for their highly marbled meat, while the Nellore breed contains less fat and more connective tissue (Silva et al, 2002; Moreira et al, 2003). In the warm regions of the Brazil, adapted breeds of cattle are primarily limited to the Bos indicus indicus (Zebu) cattle, bred from Brazilian Nellore
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