Abstract
Carcasses of sixty-three Nellore bulls slaughtered at a commercial beef plant were randomly selected by dental classification (2, 4, 6 or 8 permanent incisors) in order to evaluate the influence of dental maturity on carcass traits and meat quality. Carcasses with 8 permanent incisors (p.i.) had greatest values (P < 0.05) of carcass weight and longissimus area. Carcasses with 4 and 6 p.i. presented similar values of rib fat thickness being greater (P < 0.05) than the other groups. Carcasses with 6 and 8 p.i. presented greater (P < 0.05) values of shear force than the other groups. Conversely, carcasses with 2 and 4 p.i. displayed greater (P < 0.05) myofibrillar fragmentation index and collagen solubility. Greatest values of thawing loss were observed in carcasses with 2 p.i. (P < 0.05) while carcasses with 8 p.i. presented greatest values (P < 0.05) of drip loss. Regarding longissimus color, carcasses with 8 p.i presented greatest value (P < 0.05) of b*. Data suggests that dental maturity influences carcass traits and meat quality of Nellore bulls.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 441-446 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Meat Science |
| Volume | 88 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brazil) , Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG, Brazil) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Ensino Superior (CAPES, Brazil) for the financial support.
Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Beef cattle
- Collagen
- Dentition
- Pre-slaughter
- Tenderness