Carcass characteristics, meat quality and composition of lambs finished in cultivated pastures

Abstract

Thirty-two Santa Inês male lambs, not castrated, were distributed in a randomized block design to evaluate the effects of different tropical forage cultivars (two Panicum maximum (Syn. Megathyrsus maximus): Aruana and Massai, and two Brachiaria brizantha (Syn. Urochloa brizantha) Marandu and Piatã) on carcass characteristics, quality, physical composition, and meat chemistry. The data were subjected to an analysis of variance, and the means compared using the Tukey test at 5% significance. There was no effect of cultivars on body weight, slaughter weight, and biometric measurements of the carcass. The Aruana and Piatã cultivars provided higher weights of hot and cold carcasses when compared to the Massai and the Marandu had no significant differences compared to the others. The animals kept in the pasture of the Aruana cultivar showed higher shank yields. However, forage cultivars did not affect the ribeye area or subcutaneous fat thickness. There was also no effect of cultivar on pH, temperature, cooking losses, cooling losses, and meat shear strength. The cultivars did not change the quality and composition of the meat. However, the Aruana, Piatã, and Marandu cultivars were the ones that provided higher carcass weights and ham yields.

Aspectos relacionados con la importancia del uso de modelos predictivos en la producción ovina. Revisión

“…Nevertheless, one way to add value to the meat is by selling it through cuts obtained by sectioning the carcass (82) . Thus, the carcass is initially divided into the major cuts of shoulder, neck, loin, leg, and rib, which are smaller and facilitate marketing, conservation at home, and preparation for consumption (3,82,83) .…”

“…Sheep farming for meat production in Brazil has expanded in the last decade because of the increased demand for this type of meat in the market. Thus, producers have sought ways to establish production systems capable of efficiently generating quality meat at a low cost (1,2,3) . However, the productivity of these animals in Brazil is still incipient due to deficiencies in genetic and nutritional management, poor financing, inadequate management systems of the various rearing stages, and low ability to properly organize the production chain (4) .…”

Extruded urea could replace true protein source in supplements for lambs finished in tropical pastures

“…The finishing of sheep in Urochloa spp pastures, although little used in intensive systems, is an alternative to confinement when protein-energy supplementation is used to meet the needs of weight gain (Araújo et al, 2022). The incorporation of urea in the lambs' diet is an inexpensive way to improve the efficiency of consumption of low-quality tropical pastures in the dry season and to reach the nutritional requirement of the growing category and provide satisfactory weight gain since ruminants can use non-protein nitrogen by ruminal fermentation (Moraes et al, 2019).…”