MARBLING OF CATTLE M. LONGISSIMUS DORSI

Abstract

The aim of the study is to find the differences in the marbling of beef depending on the age of young cattle and the characteristics of its growth. It was carried out on bulls of the Ukrainian Black and White dairy breed in “Zhuravushka”, FG of the Kyiv region. Cattle were raised and fattened according to the technology of beef production in dairy farming. Their slaughter was carried out in a slaughterhouse of Kalinovka town. The marbling of m. longissimus dorsi assessment was performed by a 12-point scale according to the JMGA (2000) method. It is established that the marbling of the m. longissimus dorsi of the back increases by 45.8% with increasing age of slaughter from 20 to 22 months. The correlation between marbling and thickness of subcutaneous fat at 22 months of age is 0.68. In animals with different actual live weight before slaughter, the marbling m. longissimus dorsi ranges from 2.7 to 4.0 points. It tends to increase by 42.9 % with an increase in live weight before slaughter from 350-400 to 500 kg or more. Its highest rate is at a live weight before slaughter of more than 500 kg. The marbling of the “rib eye” with an increase in the average daily gain from birth to slaughter from 500 g to 651-700 g tends to increase by 24.1 %. The muscle of bulls is characterized by the best marbling at average daily increments from 651 to 700 g. On the basis of the conducted researches it is possible to state that marbling of beef depends on age of slaughter of animals and features of their growth. In Ukraine, the impact of sex, breed, genotype and level of feeding on beef marbling should be studied in order to develop and adapt domestic standards to world standards for sold beef in the quality of beef, including its marbling

Keywords

• beef
• dairy cattle
• intramuscular fat
• ukrainian black-and-white beef breed