Chemical Composition of Meat in Calves Under Diferent Diets

Chemical composition of meat in calf under diferente diets
Annelise AG Lobo¹, Anna CF Rocha², Mario L Chizzotti², Alex S Lopes², Ana CB Menezes², Tadeu E Silva² and Marcos I Marcondes², ¹University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, Brazil, ²University of Viçosa, Brazil

This study was aimed at evaluating the chemical composition of the Longissimus dorsi muscle of veal calves. A total of 39 calves with an average initial body weight of 36.0 kg. The animals were distributed according to a completely randomized in a 3 x 2 factorial design, with three levels of milk intake and two levels of concentrate feeding. Treatments included: 1) 2 L of milk per day (2L), 2) 4 L of milk per day(4L), 3) 8 L of milk per day (8L), 4) 2 L of milk per day and ad libitum access to concentrated feed (2 L + C), 5), 4 L of milk per day, and ad libitum access to the concentrated feed (4L + C) and 6), and 8 L of milk per day and ad libitum access to the concentrated feed (8L + C). All animals were slaughtered. at the age of 4 mo. The carcasses were kept for 24 hours in the cold chamber at 4°C and after that period the Longissimus dorsi muscle was removed from each half carcass. Analysis of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, and ash were performed. The centesimal composition of the muscle the was not affaccted by the presence of concentrate in the diet (P > 0.05). The moisture content was highest in the 2 L treatment (80.63%) and lowest in the 8 L treatment (78.7%). It is worth mentioning that young animals have a higher concentration of water in the body than adult animals. The ether extract content was not influenced by treatment (P > 0.05). It is known that the levels of moisture and fat are negatively correlated. Regarding the protein and ash contents, the treatment with highest milk level (8 L) had a higher averages, 19.72% and 0.55%, respectively. It was concluded that both the production of white meat and the pink meat of calves, and the composition of the Longissimus dorsi muscle showed no differences among treatments. The amount of milk that the animal ingests during its development phase presents changes in the protein content, ashes and moisture of the meat.

Keywords: carcass, milk, concentrated