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Repercussions of growth path on carcass characteristics, meat colour and shear force in Alentejana bulls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2015

P. Costa ,
J. A. Simões ,
A. S. H. Costa ,
J. P. C. Lemos ,
D. Navas ,
J. F. Hocquette ,
C. R. Calkins  and
R. J. B. Bessa
P. Costa*
Affiliation:
CIISA - Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, ULisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
J. A. Simões
Affiliation:
L-INIAV Santarém, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Quinta da Fonte Boa, 2005-048 Vale de Santarém, Portugal
A. S. H. Costa
Affiliation:
CIISA - Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, ULisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal Box 197, MRC Cancer Unit, Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0XZ, United Kingdom
J. P. C. Lemos
Affiliation:
CIISA - Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, ULisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
D. Navas
Affiliation:
L-INIAV Santarém, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Quinta da Fonte Boa, 2005-048 Vale de Santarém, Portugal
J. F. Hocquette
Affiliation:
INRA, UR 1213, Unité de Recherches sur les Herbivores (URH), Theix, F-63122 Saint-Genés Champanelle, France Clermont Université, VetAgro Sup, UMR1213, Herbivores, BP 10448, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
C. R. Calkins
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA1A contribution of the University of Nebraska Agricultural Research Division, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
R. J. B. Bessa
Affiliation:
L-INIAV Santarém, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Quinta da Fonte Boa, 2005-048 Vale de Santarém, Portugal CIISA - Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, ULisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal
*
†E-mail: paulocosta@fmv.ulisboa.pt
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the carcass and meat characteristics of eight muscles from bulls with distinct growth paths. A total of 40 Alentejana male calves were allocated to two distinct feeding regimes. In the continuous growth (CG) system, the animals were fed concentrates plus hay and were slaughtered at 18 months of age. On the other hand, in the discontinuous growth (DG) system, the animals were fed hay until 15 months of age; the cattle were then fed the same diet provided to the CG group from 15 to 24 months of age. The DG reduced hot carcass weight, fatness and dressing %, but the proportions of fat, bone and muscle tissues in the leg were not affected. In contrast, there was a positive impact of compensatory growth on supraspinatus, triceps brachii, semitendinosus, biceps femoris muscle tenderness, overcoming the negative effects of age at slaughter. The reasons for such improvement in meat tenderness were not related to intra-muscular fat content or myofibrillar protein degradation values. An association between tenderness and muscle collagen properties was not established. The results indicate that the compensatory growth has a muscle-dependent effect.

Keywords

Bullscompensatory growthmeat tendernesscarcass traits
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 9 , Issue 8 , August 2015 , pp. 1414 - 1422
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2015 

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Footnotes

a

Authors contributed to the project equally.

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