The Relationship between Different Body Types of Kalmyk Steers and Their Raw Meat Production and Quality

Abstract

The article presents the data on a comparative research study of the beef production of Kalmyk steers of compact (Group I), medium (Group II) and tall (Group III) body types. It has been found that the steers of a tall body type had higher pre-slaughter weight at the age of 16 months than steers of compact and medium types by 24.7 and 12.1 kg, respectively; the weight of hot carcasses by 15.9 and 7.6 kg; and the carcass yield was higher by 0.5 and 0.2%. The slaughter yield of steers varied from 58.50 (Group I) to 58.69% (Group III). Boning showed that tall youngsters had higher flesh weight in carcasses by 7.05 and 3.61% compared to their analogs of compact and medium types. The average flesh sample from animals of a tall type contained more protein than their analogs by 0.91 and 0.86%, respectively. The fat content in carcass flesh from steers of compact type was higher than from medium and tall steers by 1.05 and 2.56%, respectively. The longissimus dorsimuscle of tall steers contained more essential amino acid of tryptophan and less non-essential amino acid of hydroxyproline. Furthermore, a tendency of higher values of moisture-retaining ability of meat from steers of a compact type has been revealed. Organoleptic characteristics of meat from all experimental steers differed insignificantly.