Tissue distribution in primal cuts of Canadian beef composites and opportunities for harvesting younger and leaner cattle

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Goonewardene, Laksiri A.
  • Basarab, John A.
  • Wang, Z.
  • Price, Megan A.
  • Ramsey, P.
  • Marx, T.
  • Aalhus, J.
  • Seneviratne, R. W.
  • Yalingasinghe, W. G. N. P.
  • Okine, Erasmus K.

• The objectives were to compare weights and proportions (%) of muscle (M), fat (F) and bone (B) in the carcass, primal cuts (brisket, loin and short loin, chuck, flank, plate, rib, round and shank) and fat depots in three BeefBooster® composites (n = 176) from 274-456 days at slaughter, and determine harvest times at which M is maximized and F is optimized. Composites were from lines M1, M2, M3, M4 and TX. The SM type contained M3 and other small breeds; AH contained M1 and M2 which had either Angus (A) or Hereford (H), and GLC contained both M4 made up of either Gelbveih (G) or Limousin (L) and TX made up of Charolais (C). Tissue weights and proportions were analyzed by covariance within slaughter time (274, 347, 372, 399, 427 and 456 d, respectively) with composite type (SM, AH and GLC) as fixed, year (1 & 2) as random and age within slaughter time as a covariate. In the carcass and primal cuts, the weight of M, weight and percent F increased while the percent M decreased with slaughter age. SM had less M (p0.05) for SM and AH at 372, 399 and 427 day. The M:F ratio decreased with age and the decrease was more pronounced in SM and AH than GLC. The round had the least amount and proportion of F and the flank had the most. The weight and proportion of F in all primal cuts differed (p<0.05) between composites especially beyond 399ºC. The SM and AH can be harvested 60 and 30 days earlier respectively, so as to increase % M and decrease % F.

• Date created

  2012-01-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Growth Pattern
  • Muscle
  • Fat
  • Ideal Carcass
  • Slaughter Time

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-bwbe-8v47

• License

  Attribution 4.0 International