Características de carcaça e da carne de ovinos alimentados com fontes alternativas de proteína ao farelo de soja

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate carcass characteristics, weights and yield of retail cuts and carcass measurements of sheep fed different protein sources (castor bean, sunflower cake and sunflower seed) in place of soybean meal as well as the use of ultrasound to estimate parameters carcass. We evaluated 40 carcasses of sheep without defined breed, male, unneutered, with initial average weight of 19.78 ± 1.84 kg in a randomized block design with four treatments and ten repetitions. The animals were slaughtered after 70 days of confinement beyond the period of adaptation. The live weight at slaughter was similar for cows fed diets with soybean meal and castor bean. The cold carcass yield was lower for animals fed sunflower seed compared to those fed soybean meal. The hot carcass yield, true yield and cooling losses were not affected among treatments, with averages of 44.67%, 56.11% and 4.25 %, respectively. With the exception of the saw and loin there was no effect of protein source on yield of retail cuts. The correlation coefficient between measures of loin eye area by ultrasound and taken directly to the carcass was 0.90. The sheep fed sunflower seed had the lowest carcass compactness index. The detoxified castor bean meal has the potential to be used in the diet of sheep as little interference in carcass characteristics, since the inclusion of sunflower seed in the diet negatively influenced carcass characteristics. Ultrasound is an effective tool in the evaluation of loin eye area.