Qualidade da carne de novilhos terminados em confinamento e abatidos aos 16 ou 26 meses de idade

Abstract

Avaliaram-se as características sensoriais da carne de novilhos não-castrados ou castrados terminados em confinamento e abatidos aos 16 (superjovens) ou 26 (jovens) meses de idade. A dieta com relação volumoso:concentrado de 50:50 continha 11,8% de proteína bruta e 2,83 Mcal de energia digestível/kg de matéria seca. A maior amplitude do pH final da carne foi observada nos novilhos jovens e a menor, nos superjovens. A carne dos animais não-castrados, independentemente da idade de abate, foi mais escura, mais grosseira e com menor grau de marmorização em comparação à dos castrados. A carne dos animais castrados teve maior perda de líquidos durante o processo de descongelamento em relação à dos não-castrados (8,55 vs 4,99%). Ocorreu interação entre categoria e sexo do animal para perda de líquido durante a cocção, palatabilidade e suculência. Novilhos jovens não-castrados apresentaram maior quebra à cocção, carne menos palatável e menos suculenta em relação aos jovens castrados e aos superjovens castrados e não-castrados. A redução da idade de abate de 26 para 16 meses de idade, independentemente da condição sexual, melhora a maciez da carne avaliada pelo painel de degustadores.

Carcass physical composition and physic-chemical characteristics of meat from Nellore cattle

“…Likewise, Climaco et al (2006) did not observe alterations in the amount of bone in the carcass between intact or castrated steers, which was attributed to the similar body development of these animals. However, the obtained results agreed with those presented by Restle et al (1996), Kuss et al (2010), and Moletta et al (2014), who found a larger quantity of bone in the carcasses of young bulls, as a consequence of the greater body development of this category. This hypothesis can also explain the obtained results, since the intact animals had a heavier body weight as compared with the castrated, which did not differ amongst themselves.…”

“…Overall, the meat was classified as "slightly dark red", in which the meat from the young bulls displayed (P=0.059) a darker color which may be explained by the more reactive behavior of this animal category. The increased pre-slaughter stress can result in a reduction of the stores of muscle glycogen, limiting the postslaughter pH decline (SEGATO et al, 2005;KUSS et al, 2010;CAFE et al, 2011). The maintenance of a higher pH is followed by a low redox potential and formation of oxymyoglobin, responsible for the meat bright red color (ABRIL et al, 2001;MUCHENJE et al, 2009).…”

“…Although the performance of these animals is superior to that of castrated animals (SILVA et al, 2012), the meat from the former presents less desirable characteristics, such as darker color, less marbling, and less tenderness (RESTLE et al, 1996;KUSS et al, 2010). According to Restle et al (1996), these less desirable characteristics of the carcass and meat of intact cattle result in less carcass fat cover, mainly.…”

Age castration of Nellore males on the profile of fatty acids of meat

“…These factors are crucial for the deposition of body fat, especially marbling, which tends to be greater at lower ages of castration (SEGATO et al, 2005) and higher with increasing age and/or slaughter weight (KUSS et al, 2005). The SFA content in ruminants should be considered the result of lipolysis, ruminal biohydrogenation, and a "new" synthesis (SMITH et al, 2009).…”

“…In Brazil, a significant proportion of the cattle that are slaughtered are intact males (bulls), which produce darker, harder meat due to increased preslaughter excitability (KUSS et al, 2010) and have lower body fat (RODRIGUES; ANDRADE, 2004). The higher levels of insoluble collagen in bulls (DESTEFANIS et al, 2003) and muscle calpastatin (MICOL et al, 2009) make their meat less tender.…”