The objective of this trial was to evaluate quantitative and qualitative traits of carcass and meat from grazing steers submitted to one of the following three supplementation strategies: daily supplementation (DS), alternate days supplementation (AS) or Monday to Friday supplementation (MFS). Twenty-four crossbred steers (Bos indicus x Bos taurus) averaging 230 kg of initial body were used in a completely randomized block design (three treatments and eight replicates/treatment). Animals were maintained in pasture of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu from the rainy season of 2003 to the dry and rainy seasons of 2004, when they reached the expected slaughter weight. The quantitative and qualitative traits of carcass and meat were not affected by the different supplementation strategies. Slaughter body weight, hot carcass yield, loin eye area, and fat thickness averaged, respectively, 468.21 kg, 50.26%, 59.67 cm², and 3.3 mm across treatments. Overall, the meat was classified as tender with juiciness and palatability slightly above the average.
bovine; carcass yield; fat thickness; loin eye area; supplementation strategy
