Relação entre a morfometria corporal e a composição tecidual do lombo de cordeiros

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the correlations between in vivo measurements with the muscle, fat and bone ratio of the loin cut with flank of commercial lambs. Forty male crossbred lambs, non-castrated, with body weight close to 35 kg, and purchased from a commercial nursery were used. Ultrasound images were taken the day before slaughtering, and also in vivo measurements. The in vivo characteristics measured were: wither height (WH), rump height (RH), chest width (CW), hip width (HW), heart girth (HG). The ultrasonic measurements were made between the 12th and 13th ribs on the Longissimus In dissection of the ribs, loin were separated bones, muscles and subcutaneous fat (composed of external fat, located below the skin), intermuscular fat (all fat located below the deep fascia, associated with muscles), others (all non identified tissues, composed of tendons, glands, nerves and blood vessels). The results related to the tissue composition of the ribs and the characteristics measured in vivo were analyzed by Pearson's correlation at the 5% level of significance. There was a positive correlation for muscle in relation to wither height (WH) (0.047) and negative correlation for bone in relation to chest width (CW) (0.019). The study of the correlations between the in vivo characteristics and the tissue components of the loin cut with flank was not very efficient.