52a Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de
Zootecnia
Zootecnia: Otimizando Recursos e Potencialidades
Belo Horizonte – MG, 19 a 23 de Julho de 2015
Efeito da suplementação dos 4 aos 14 meses de idade sobre o desempenho e as características qualitativas da
carcaça de novilhas Nelore1
Marcos Rocha Manso², Felipe Henrique de Moura², Paulo Henrique Silva e Paiva³, Luciano Prímola de Melo²,
Aline Gomes da Silva4, Mario Luiz Chizzotti5, Mário Fonseca Paulino5
1
Parte de da tese de doutorado do quinto autor.
Estudante de Graduação em Zootecnia, DZO/UFV, Viçosa – MG, Brasil. E-mail: [email protected]
³ Estudante de Graduação em Medicina Veterinária, DVT/UFV, Viçosa – MG, Brasil.
4
Estudante de Doutorado em Zootecnia, DZO/ UFV e WCREC/UNL, North Platte – NE, USA, Bolsista CNPq (Março/2012-Julho/2014) e
Capes (Agosto/2014 até o presente). E-mail: [email protected]
5
Professor do Departamento de Zootecnia, DZO/UFV, Viçosa – MG, Brasil.
2
Resumo: O experimento foi conduzido para avaliar os efeitos da suplementação sobre o desempenho e qualidade
de carcaça de novilhas da raça Nelore. Vinte novilhas com peso corporal inicial médio de 131,8 ± 9,9 kg e idade
inicial de 120 dias foram suplementadas de Fevereiro a Novembro. Os tratamentos utilizados foram Controle (C) e
Suplementado (S). Ao final do experimento, as novilhas foram abatidas seguindo os procedimentos de bem estar
animal após 16h de jejum. A suplementação aumentou o ganho médio diário, peso corporal final, peso de carcaça
quente, peso de carcaça fria, rendimento de carcaça quente e rendimento de carcaça fria (P<0,10), mas não houve
diferença para perdas por resfriamento (P=0,3307) entre os tratamentos. Área do músculo longissimus e espessura
de gordura na 12ª costela foram também maiores em animais pertencentes ao tratamento S (P<0,10). Não houve
diferença no pH final da carcaça entre os tratamentos (P=0,8250). Todos os cortes primários foram superiores no
tratamento S (P <0,10), porém o tratamento C apresentou maior rendimento de dianteiro e traseiro (P<0,10).
Conclui-se que a suplementação melhora o desempenho e as características de qualidade de carcaça de novilhas.
Palavras–chave: área do músculo longissimus, espessura de gordura subcutânea, rendimento de carcaça,
temperatura da carcaça
Effect of supplementation from 4 to 14 months of age on performance and carcass quality traits of Nellore
heifers
Abstract: The trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementation on performance and carcass quality of
Nellore heifers. Twenty Nellore heifers with 131.8 ± 9.9 kg of initial average body weight and 120 days of age were
fed from February to November. Treatments consisted in Control (C) and Supplemented (S). At the end of the
experiment, heifers were slaughtered following animal welfare standards after 16h fasting. Supplementation
increased average daily gain, final body weight, hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, hot carcass yield and cold
carcass yield (P<0.10), but there was no difference for carcass shrink loss (P=0.3307) among the treatments.
Longissimus muscle area and rib fat thickness were also increased by supplementation (P<0.10). There was no
difference on final pH (P=0.8250). Treatment S had heavier primal cuts (P<0.10), but treatment C had higher
forequarter and hindquarter yield (P<0.10). We conclude that supplementation improve heifer performance and
carcass quality traits.
Keywords: carcass temperature, carcass yield, longissimus muscle area, rib fat thickness
Introduction
In most tropical regions, especially in Brazil, beef cattle production is done under grazing conditions. The
distribution and seasonal variation in quantity and quality of forage is one of the main problems faced by beef
producers in these areas (Sampaio et al., 2010). Under these conditions, the nutritional supplementation is the main
strategy used to increase the efficiency of the production system (Paulino et al., 2014). Therefore, this study aimed
to evaluate effects of supplementation on performance and carcass quality traits of Nellore heifers under grazing
conditions
Material and Methods
All animal care and handling procedures were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the
Department of Animal Science of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil (protocol CEUAP-UFV 11/2014).
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52a Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de
Zootecnia
Zootecnia: Otimizando Recursos e Potencialidades
Belo Horizonte – MG, 19 a 23 de Julho de 2015
Twenty Nellore heifers with 131.8 ± 9.9 kg of initial average body weight and 120 days of age were used. The trial
lasted 300 d.
In the pre-weaning phase (120 d), heifer calves were placed in an experimental area divided in two plots of
Uruchloa decumbens of 7.0 ha with free access to water and feeders. Cattle were weaned at 240 d of age. In the
post-weaning phase (180 d) they were transferred to two plots of 2.5 ha each provided with water fountain and
feeder.
Animals were assigned to a completely randomized design with two treatments and 10 replicates. The
experimental treatments consisted of a control group (C), with unlimited access to mineral mixture; and
Supplemented group (S), in which concentrate supplement was fed daily at 6 g/kg of their body weight (BW). The
supplement was composed by corn and soybean meal, and formulated to contain approximately 25% crude protein
(CP). Animals were weighed at beginning and at each 30 days to adjust the amount of supplement provided.
At the end of the experiment, heifers were slaughtered after overnight fasting (16h), following animal
welfare standards. After slaughter, the hot carcass weight (HCW) was recorded and the carcass were chilled at 4°C
for approximately 24 h. Carcass temperature and pH were recorded at 24 h post-mortem. After the post-mortem
chilling period the cold carcass weight (CCW), 12 th rib fat thickness (RFT) and 12th rib longissimus muscle area
(LMA) were measured on the left side of each carcass. The primal cuts were separated from the right side carcass
into the hindquarter (H), forequarter (F), spare rib (SR), chuck (C) and rump (R) and the weights were recorded to
calculate the yield.
The difference between the chilled and hot carcass weights was used to calculate 24 h carcass shrink loss
(CSL). Carcass yield percentage was calculated using HCW and CCW divided by final shrunk body weight and
then multiplying the result by 100.
The response variables were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX in SAS 9.4. Least square means were
estimated for all effects and compared at α=0.10.
Results and Discussion
As shown in the Table 1, supplemented cattle had higher ADG (P=0.0003), FBW (P=0.0174), HCW
(P=0.0051) and CCW (P=0.0051). The supplementation also improve the HCY (P=0.0002) and CCY (P=0.0002),
but there was no difference for CSL (P=0.3307) among the treatments.
Table 1. Means, standard error (SE) and indicatives of significance for performance and carcass
quality traits among the treatments.
Treatment
Itema
P-value
SE
131.8
0.9944
14.1381
0.367
0.538
0.0003
0.0378
FBW, kg
243.7
296.1
0.0174
19.9859
HCW, kg
123.4
160.6
0.0051
11.6743
CCW, kg
121.6
158.4
0.0051
11.5567
HCY, %
50.4
54.2
0.0002
1.0905
CCY, %
49.7
53.4
0.0002
1.0551
CSL, %
1.5
1.4
0.3307
0.0327
LMA, cm²
48.9
57.3
0.0392
3.8022
RFT, mm
0.69
1.82
0.0076
0.2349
Control
Supplemented
IBW, kg
131.7
ADG, kg
pHu
6.42
6.40
0.8250
0.0175
a
/IBW= initial body weight; ADG=average daily gain; FBW=final body weight; HCW=hot carcass weight;
CCW=cold carcass weight; HCY=hot carcass yield; CCY=cold carcass yield; CSL=carcass shrink loss;
LMA=longissimus muscle area; RFT=rib fat thickness; pHu=carcass final pH.
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52a Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de
Zootecnia
Zootecnia: Otimizando Recursos e Potencialidades
Belo Horizonte – MG, 19 a 23 de Julho de 2015
LMA and RFT were also increased by supplementation (P=0.0392 and P=0.0076, respectively). No effects
of supplementation were observed on carcass final pH (P=0.8250). This result suggests that the supplement intake
was likely not enough to increase deposition of glycogen in skeletal muscle tissue, leading to similar values of
carcass final pH.
Due to higher FBW, cattle from S group also had increased primal cuts weight (P<0.10 - Table 2). There
was no effect of supplementation on chuck, spare ribs and rump yields (P=0.4958; P=0.1637; and P=0.5125,
respectively). However, animals from the C group had greater forequarter and hindquarter yields (P=0.0158 and
P=0.0265, respectively). Although all the primal cuts weights increased in the treatment S carcasses, the spareribs
had a higher proportional increase (48,61%), which may be due to the fact that supplemented animals had higher
body length and rib depth (da Silva, 2015 – unpublished data).
Table 2. Means, standard error (SE) and indicatives of significance for primal cuts yield among the
treatments.
Treatment
Item
Control
P-value
SE
Supplemented
Primal cuts, kg
Forequarter
11.1
13.9
0.0181
1.0621
Chuck
12.7
16.2
0.0117
1.2563
Spare ribs
7.2
10.7
0.0020
0.9522
Rump
10.7
14.3
0.0140
1.3211
Hindquarter
19.7
23.5
0.0678
1.9481
Primal cuts yield, %
Forequarter
18.0
17.2
0.0158
0.1472
Chuck
20.9
20.1
0.4958
2.1634
Spare ribs
11.9
13.0
0.1637
1.0111
Rump
17.2
17.6
0.5125
0.8175
Hindquarter
31.8
29.1
0.0265
2.2099
Conclusions
We conclude that supplementation from 4 to 14 months of age at a rate of 6 g/kg of BW improve heifer
performance and carcass quality traits.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank to Fapemig and CNPq for project financial support and CNPq and Capes for the
scholarships provided.
References
Paulino, M. F.; Detmann, E.; da Silva, A. G.; de Almeida, D. M.; Márquez, D. E. C.; Moreno, D. P. S.; de Moura,
F. H.; Cardenas, J. E. G.; Lima, J. A. C.; Martins, L. S.; Manso, M. R.; Ortega, R. E. M.; Lopes, S. A. and de
Carvalho, V. V. 2014. Bovinocultura Otimizada. p.139-164. In: Anais do IX Simpósio de Produção de Gado de
Corte, Viçosa.
Sampaio, C.; Detmann, E.; Paulino, M.; Valadares Filho, S.; de Souza, M.; Lazzarini, I.; Rodrigues Paulino, P. and
de Queiroz, A. 2010. Intake and digestibility in cattle fed low-quality tropical forage and supplemented with
nitrogenous compounds. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 42(7): 1471–1479.
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