Characterization of carcasses of Holstein upgraded bulls fed complete diets of forage from sugarcane and Pennisetum purpureum cv. Cuba CT-115

Resumen

Fifteen Holstein upgraded bulls were selected from sugarcane feeding systems to characterize their carcasses. The treatments consisted in susbtituting partially the surgarcane forage by forage of Pennisetum purpureum cv. Cuba CT-115 in the following percentages: A) without addition of CT- 115, B) 11.5 % of forage of CT-115, and C) 23 % of forage of CT-115. The animals were allocated according to random block design, into three treatments, with liveweights of 436, 433, and 431 kg, respectively. They were weighted before slaughtering and they were left 24 h at fast with ad libitum water. Later, they were slaughtered by the method of captive bolt stunning. The hot carcasses were weighted four hours after the end of the dissection and they remained at temperature of 4 ?C for 24 h to determine the weight of the cold carcass. Later, the left carcass was dissected to determine the percentage of edible meat (first and second), bones and excessive fat. There were not differences for the indicators hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, yield, first and second class meat, bone, and fat. It was concluded that the inclusion of forage of CT-115 in complete sugarcane diets had no effect on the carcass indicators under study.
Key words: cattle, carcasses, sugarcane.