Meat quality of crossbred bulls fed with sorghum silage or sugar cane and slaughtered at two levels of fat thickness - doi: 10.4025/actascitechnol.v34i3.15121

Resumo

This study was carried out to evaluate the performance and carcass characteristics of bulls from three genetic groups: Zebu (ZEB), ½ Limmousin vs. ½ Zebu (LIZ) and ½ Angus vs. ½ Zebu (ANZ). Bulls were finished in feedlot and fed two diets: sorghum silage + 1.0% concentrate of LW or sugar cane + 1.2% concentrate LW. The bulls were slaughtered at one of two fat thicknesses: 3.4 or 4.8 mm. The bulls of the LIZ and ANZ groups showed higher FBW and ADG. There were no differences in the feed intake and carcass characteristics among the groups. Bulls from LIZ group had a lower fat thickness and higher muscle deposition. There were no differences among groups on carcass characteristics. The bulls fed with sorghum silage had a higher FBW, ADG and carcass weight than those fed sugar cane, while the animals fed sugar cane had a higher DMI and lower feed efficiency. There was no difference in hot carcass dressing between the diets. The sorghum silage or sugar cane did not change carcass characteristics or the meat composition. The FBW and HCD were similar for the two levels of fat thickness. The ADG was higher in bulls with 3.4 mm of fat thickness.