Características de carcaça e qualidade da carne de bovinos nelore e F1 Nelore - Araguaia

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate and to compare carcass traits and meat quality in cattle Nellore and F1 cross between Nellore and Araguaia, where 17 were from the Nellore group and 19 from ½ Nellore ½ Araguaia. All animals belonged to the same birth season and were finished in pasture systems, under the same nutritional, environmental, and management conditions. When the animals reached slaughter weight, they were taken to the industrial slaughterhouse where food was withdrawn for a 24 hour period (free access to water), later they were stunned, bled, the leather was removed and were eviscerated. The carcasses were weighed (hot weight), kept in chilled storage for approximately 24 hours at 4°C, and weighed once again to obtain the chilled carcass weight. The variables analyzed were carcass yield, length and width, leg length, thigh perimeter, loin eye area (LEA), retail cuts, cooling loss, pH, fat depth, marbling rate, intramuscular fat, color, shear force and sensory analysis. Differences (p > 0.05) were observed for the following variables; slaughter weight, hot and chilled carcass weights, carcass and leg lengths, thigh perimeter, LEA, retail cuts and lightness (L*), where the F1 cross between Nellore and Araguaia showed higher means for all of these traits, except for leg length and L*. Therefore, the crossbreeding between Nellore and Araguaia cattle did not affect the meat s sensory characteristics, but contributed to the improvement in carcass traits, being an alternative for farmers that aim for meat quality, with higher meat percentage.