Relationships among biometric measurements, carcass traits and meat commercial cuts in Zebu and Caracu bulls

Abstract

During three consecutive years a total of 144 bull records from the Zebu breeds Nellore, Guzerah and Caracu breed, selected for post-weaning weight, finished in feedlot and slaughtered at an average age of 19 months, with three different degrees of maturity, were analyzed. Multivariate procedure (MANOVA) was used to estimate the residual correlations between body measurements and carcass traits. The model fitted the effects of genetic groups, order of slaughter and year of birth. Correlation coefficient between hip height and carcass weight was 0.37, antagonistic to the amount of kidney fat (-0.14). High correlation coefficients were estimated between chest girth and carcass weight (0.77), blade (0.57), and chuck (0.67) and positive correlations were estimated between chest girth and kidney fat (0.38) and carcass fat (0.52). The estimated correlation coefficient between body length and carcass weight was 0.38. Correlation coefficients between dorsal line length, rump length and distance among pin bones and all the meat cuts of commercial interest analyzed ranged from 0.24 to 0.56. In addition to live body weight, chest girth and distances between hip bones can be considered an auxiliary tool for evaluation of carcass traits in Zebu and Caracu bulls. Other body measurements analyzed resulted in low or null relationship to carcass traits.

Keywords

• bovinos de corte
• correlação residual
• medidas corporais