Características da carcaça e da carne de cordeiros Santa Inês alimentados com farelo de mamona destoxificado

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the characteristics of carcass and meat of Santa Inês lambs submitted to four experimental treatments with increasing concentrations of detoxified castor meal (0%, 33%, 66% and 100%) with dry matter basis. The bulk used consisted of mixed silage of elephant grass, sorghum and sugar cane. Thirty-two non-castrated male lambs were used and slaughtered with average body weight of 30 kg. Experimental tests were conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments and eight replications (lambs). Data were submitted ANOVA and means compared by Tukey test at 5%. The animals were fasted of food and water for 24 hours and bleeding was performed with section of carotid artery and jugular vein, followed by evisceration. After slaughter, the carcasses were chilled for 24 hours at 4°C and pH was measured on the semimembranosus muscle at 45 minutes and 24 hours after slaughter, also determining weight, hot and cold carcass yield and morphometric measurements. The carcass was longitudinally sectioned into half carcasses, and retail cuts such as leg, loin, rib, rear, neck and shoulder on the right half carcass were obtained, followed by weighing and freezing of shoulder and leg for further evaluation of tissue composition. The longissimus dorsi muscle was used for the qualitative assessments of meat, weight loss due to cooking, shear force, fat content, fatty acid profile, protein content, ash, moisture and sensory analysis. Diet with 100% of castor meal showed the lowest cold carcass yield, leg circumference and chest depth. No statistical difference between treatments was observed for weight and cut yields; however, the diet influenced the rib yield, which showed the lowest value for treatment with 66% of castor meal. Carcass muscularity was affected by the diet, and in the muscle: bone ratio of the leg, a lower average for those fed with 100% of castor meal was observed. There were differences between tissue constituents of leg, muscle, bone and other tissues, and in the palette, bone and other tissues differed. The rib eye area was similar between treatments. There was a significant effect (p <0.05) between treatments for the centesimal composition, with lower percentage of fat, protein and moisture at substitution levels of 66, 100 and 33% respectively. The substitution of castor meal provided an interesting fatty acids profile for consumer health, featuring the best ratios for the evaluated relations between fatty acids. There was no statistical difference between treatments for parameters pH and shear force; however, there was an effect of the substitution in weight loss due to cooking, showing lower percentage 24.42% (p <0.05) in 33% of substitution. The sensory characteristics were evaluated considering attributes such as hardness, juiciness, flavor, color, aroma and overall acceptability. It was shown that diet with 33% of substitution provided meat with higher hardness but without compromising its acceptance. There was no change in the other meat sensory attributes. It could be concluded that the use of diets containing detoxified castor meal as partial substitution for soybean meal does not affect the carcass characteristics of Santa Inês lambs, weight and yield of retail cuts and tissue composition, maintaining its physicochemical and sensory quality.