Características de las canales de las razas bovinas asturianas. III.- valoracion cuantitativa y prediccion de la composicion tisular de canales en la raza asturiana de los valles: Carcass characteristics of asturiana bovine breeds. Iii. Asturiana de los valles

Growth and carcass traits data were collected on 27 steers belonging to three individual performance test groups and slaughtered at 14,9 months mean age. Animals were controlled during 7 months in a testing station. After slaughter, 6 carcass measurements were recorded; a retail product from the 11- 12" rib was elaborated, and a complete dissection on the half right carcass as well as on the retail rib was carried out. The dressing percentage was 57.6 and estimates for carcass muscle, bone and fat percentages were respectively, 75.5. 17.7 and 6.6, giving a musclebone ratio of 4.3. Although phenotypic correlations between liveweight and, carcass weight, carcass components (muscle, bone and fat) were found significative (0.95, 0.89, 0.67 and 0.47). correlations between liveweight and carcass composition percentages were not different from zero. Measures on the 11-12th rib provides little or no predictive power for carcass composition. Index of compactness (carcass weight/carcass length) was the most valuable measure for predicting carcass composition. Carcass weight, carcass and leg lengtr, breast depth and kidney fat, are the measures of interest in order to build up a linear predictor of carcass muscle and don"t depreciate its commercial value.