Carcass and meat traits of bubaline finished on sugarcane-based diets supplemented with spineless cactus as a replacement for wheat bran

• Published in: Animal bioscience Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 47 - 53
• Main Authors: Borges, Christiano Raphael de Albuquerque, Carvalho, Francisco Fernando Ramos de, Neves, Maria Luciana Menezes Wanderley, Pereira Neto, José Diógenes, Vieira, Guilherme Heliodoro Pedroso, Pessoa, Ricardo Alexandre Silva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Asian - Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies 01.01.2022; Animal Bioscience; Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies; 아세아·태평양축산학회
• Subjects: Beef cattle; buffalo; Cactus; Food and nutrition; meat tenderness; nutrition; Nutritional aspects; Physiological aspects; tissue composition; 축산학; Brazil; Tissue Composition; Nutrition; Buffalo; Meat Tenderness
• ISSN: 2765-0189; 2765-0235; 2765-0235
• DOI: 10.5713/ab.20.0825

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of spineless cactus (0%, 33%, 66%, and 100%) used as a substitute for wheat bran in buffalo diets on quantitative and qualitative traits of the meat and carcass. Twenty Murrah buffaloes at 18 months of age, with a mean initial weight of 292.9±57.3 kg, were randomly allocated to four treatments with five replicates. The animals were slaughtered after 90 days in the feedlot. The effects of spineless cactus as a replacement for wheat bran in the diet of the buffaloes on the carcass and meat traits, slaughter weight, carcass yield and carcass measurements were studied. Increased spineless cactus levels led to linear reduction in average daily gain, slaughter weight, hot and cold carcass weight, compactness index and in the amount of muscle in the carcass, and there is no difference between the control treatment and the 33% replacing level for these parameters. The quality of the meat was not influenced by the treatments. Spineless cactus can replace wheat bran by up to 33% in sugarcane-based diets for buffaloes, without influencing quantitative and qualitative traits of the meat and carcass.