Quantity, location, and description of bruises in beef cattle slaughtered under sanitary inspection
Frasão, Beatriz da SilvaNascimento, Mara Regina Bueno de MattosCosta, Heloiza Carla de OliveiraMorais, Hugo RibeiroCarrijo, Kênia de FátimaBiase, Nádia Giaretta
Background: The distance traveled by trucks carrying cattle from farm to slaughterhouse can affect the resultant qualityof beef due to the occurrence of injuries en route. The types of injuries that can occur vary according to the depth, size,location, and quantity of the injuries. Staining can be used to determine the age of the lesions and estimate the time whenthe injury occurred, thereby providing information that can be used to make changes in the trucking of cattle in order todecrease or eliminate the injuries. The effects associated with three transportation distances when hauling 20 cows perlivestock truck were investigated. The collected data focused on the age, depth, size, quantity, and location of bruises foundon beef carcasses slaughtered in the mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaíba, Brazil, in January of 2012.Materials, Methods & Results: A total of 320 cows were randomly divided into three groups according to the distancetraveled via livestock truck from the farm to the slaughterhouse. Each truck carried 20 cows. In groups A (n = 140), B (n= 40), and C (n = 140), the cattle traveled 50 to 60 km, 90 to 110 km, and 140 to 166 km, respectively. Any extant contusions were visually observed on the production line after skinning, and relevant data were recorded using the respectiveanimals identifi cation tag as the identifi er and analyzed. Of the 320 animals analyzed, 285 (89.06%) had one or morelesions (i.e., a total of 682 bruises in the entire sample), which is consistent with the results of similar studies found inthe literature. Distances did not statistically infl uence the amount of bruising. For all distance conditions, the anatomicalsite on the cow with the highest incidence of injuries was the hindquarter (71.41%), and the lowest incidence was the loin(4.55%). No association between distance and location of bruises was observed. For all groups, a majority (48.09%) of...(AU)
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