Relações entre as características morfométricas da carcaça e a produção de cortes comerciais de novilhas da raça Nelore

Abstract

This research was carried out to study the correlations and develop prediction equations between carcass measurements (live weight, hot and cold carcass weight, half-carcass weight, carcass yield, internal carcass lenght, width, perimeter and depth of leg, chest depth, ribeye area and subcutaneous fat thickness) with the commercial cuts of the forequarter and hindquarter of Nellore heifers. Eighty-one Nellore heifers, randomly chosen form a commercial herd, were slaughtered according to the Regulation of the Industrial and Sanitary Inspection of Products of Animal Origin - RIISPOA (BRASIL, 1980) and separeted the commercial cuts of the forequarter (neck, chuck, shoulder cap, shoulder heart, shank and shoulder clod) and hindquarter (rump steak, sirloin, outside round, inside round , tenderloin, rump skirt, heel, knuckle and top sirloin cap). The weight was the variable that presented the highest positive correlations (> 0.60) with the cuts of the forequarter and hindquarter. The variables related to length, width, depth, and perimeter presented low to moderate correlations (<0.40) as the ribeye area showed a moderate and positive correlation (<0.40), yet the subcutaneous fat thickness did not correlate with the commercial meat cuts. Thus, the weight of the half carcass was the first variable that participated in the multiple linear regression model for the forequarter and hindquarter. The contribution of other variables was low in the prediction model, endorsing the importance of the weight to estimate the commercial meat cuts from heifers carcass. The observed and predicted values were similar, presenting a high prediction of the regression equations. For this reason, the half-carcass weight was the most important variable to predict the commercial cuts of Nellore heifers.