QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE BUFFALO (Bubalus bubalis L.) CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS FED WITH A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP OF ROUGHAGE AND CONCENTRATE ON A FEEDLOT SYSTEM IN BRAZIL

Eighteen non castrated Murrah male buffaloes, averaging 403 kg in weight, have been used in a feed lot randomized complete-block design, to test three different diets (T) with different combination of roughage (R) and concentrate (C). Tukey test has been used (5% of significance) to evaluate the obtained averages. The trial was carried on at AGRONOMIC INSTITUTE OF PARANÁ (Pinhais town, Paraná, Brazil), during 91 days. The animals have been fed twice daily, and the diets contained (%): T1 =75 R : 25 C; T2 =65 R : 35 C and T3 =55 R : 45 C, and it was calculated to have the same level of protein and energy in its composition, aiming to evaluate the diets effects on the animals’ performance on body weight and carcass characteristics. The R utilised was corn silage plus 0.5% of urea. The C was composed by soybean, wheat meal, corn, cottonseed, plus mineral, presenting: T1 =32.78 and 71.08; T2 =24.17 and 66.50; T3 =20.23 and 63.84, in percentage of crude protein and total digestive nutrients, respectively. The following quantitative characteristics have been evaluated: Hot Carcass Weight (HCW); Cold Carcass Weight (CCW); Hot Carcass Dressing Percentage (HCP); Cold Carcass Dressing Percentage (CCP); Loss After Cooling (LC); Carcass Length (CL); Leg Length (LL); Thigh Thickness (TT); Longissimus dorsi muscle area between 12th and 13th ribs (LA); Loin Area per 100kg of Cold Carcass (LA/100kg CC); Loin Fat Thickness Under the Skin, measured between the 12th and 13th ribs (LF); Bones Percentage (BP), Muscle (MP) and Fat (FP) of the Carcass - data, relative to 9th, 10th and 11th ribs. The evaluated qualitative characteristics were: Carcass Conformation (CONF); Meat Marbling (MM); Meat Texture (MT); Meat Color (MC). The diets have not affected (P > 0.05) the main carcass characteristics: HCW(kg)=265.83; 267.67 and 268.67; CCW(kg)=257.97; 260.92 and 259.27; HCP(%)=50.28; 51.20 and 51.05; CCP(%)=48.80; 48.81 and 49.45; LC(%)=2.96; 2.91 and 3.13; CL(cm)=133.75; 133.50 and 135.83; LL(cm)=70.66; 71.33 and 72.40; TT(cm)=26.16; 26.25 and 26.25; LA(cm2 )=65.48; 67.83 and 62.76; LA/100kg CC(cm2 )=25.37; 26.16 and 24.20; LF(mm)=7.58; 8.42 and 6.88, respectively for T1 , T2 , and T3 . Higher values (P < 0.05) of BP (%) have been observed in T3 (17.32) when compared with T1 (16.06). However, T2 (16.38) had a non-significant difference (P > 0.05). The MP (%) and FP (%) were similar (P > 0.05) for the three diets, and the values were: T1 =56.47 and 27.85; T2 =61.07 and 22.73; T3 =59