COMPOSIÇÃO FÍSICA DA CARCAÇA E QUALIDADE DA CARNE DE NOVILHOS E VACAS DE DESCARTE DE DIFERENTES GRUPOS GENÉTICOS SUBMETIDOS A DIFERENTES FREQUÊNCIAS DE ALIMENTAÇÃO

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the carcass physical composition and the meat quality of 5/8Charolais (Ch) 3/8Nellore (Ne) and 5/8Ne 3/8Ch steers and cull cows, feedlot finished, submitted to different feeding frequencies, two (7 and 19h), three (7, 13 and 19h) or four (7, 11, 15 and 19h) times a day. Average age of the animals at the end of the experimental period was 23 months for steers and 68 months for cows. The diet, 40:60 roughage:concentrate ratio, contained 2869 kcal of digestible energy/kg of dry matter. Feeding two, three or four times a day did not affect the characteristics studied. Cows carcasses showed higher fat percentage (24.56% vs 20.54%), while steers were superior in muscle percentage (64.93% vs 61.04%). However, the categories did not differ in bone percentage neither in muscle+fat:bone ratio. Genetic group did not affect carcass physical composition neither meat quality. Significant interaction between animal categories x genetic group for meat texture was observed. Cows of the 5/8Ch 3/8Ne genetic group showed coarser meat texture in relation to steers, while for the 5/8Ne 3/8Ch group no difference between categories was observed. The increase in the supply of feeding of two to tree or four times doesn’t influence the carcass physical composition and characteristics of meat. Cows showed carcass with higher fat, while the steers showed higher percentage of muscle. The finished of cows in feedlot resulted in meat quality similar to steers. The genetic group did not influence the carcass physical composition and meat quality. Keywords: Fat, marbling, muscle, tenderness, texture.