Qualidade da carcaça e da carne de bovinos superjovens de diferentes grupos genéticos Carcass and meat quality from young bovines of different genetic groups

Palavras-chave: cruzamento, Hereford, maciez, Nelore, qualidade da carne Abstract. This experiment had as objective to evaluate the qualitative characteristics of the carcass and meat from 32 no-castrated males, belonging of different genetic groups, being these Hereford (H), 3/4 H 1/4 Nellore (N), 5/8 H 3/8 N and 3/4 Charolais (C) 1/4 N, confined during 188 days from weaning at seven months until slaughter at fourteen months. The 3/4 H 1/4 N animals showed carcasses with lower conformation, meat with darken color, but better tenderness than 3/4 C 1/4 N. The increment of Nellore genotype in the crossbred reduced carcass conformation, increased the thawing losses and decreased meat flavor. Animals with the British genotype 3/4 C 1/4 N had a higher percentage of muscle, but a lower percentage of fatness than 3/4 H 1/4 N animals at slaughter at fourteen months of age. The purebred Hereford animals showed lower percentage of muscle and higher fat percentage than 3/4 H 1/4 N genetic group.