The objective of the experiment was to study the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of carcass and meat of steers of four genetic groups, Charolais (C), Nellore (N), crossbreds with predominance of C (3/4 C 1/4 N and 5/8 C 3/8 N - CRC) and crossbreds with predominance of N (3/4 N 1/4 C and 5/8 N 3/8 C - CRN), submitted to four feed treatments during the feedlot finishing phase, which were the following levels of substitution of sorghum grain (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) by oat grain (Avena strigosa) in the concentrate: 0%; 33%; 66% and 100%. The roughage used in the first 35 days of feedlot was sorghum silage (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), and in the last 32 days the corn silage (Zea mays) was used. The roughage:concentrate ratio during the whole feedlot was 60:40. No significant effect of substitution level was observed for carcass and meat characteristics. However, analysing the genetic group effect, it was observed that N animals showed lower slaughter and cold carcass weight than the other genetic groups, lower sidecut percentage and higher percentage of forequarter, not differing in the sawcut percentage. The C and CRC animals showed higher muscle percentage in the carcass and higher Longissimus dorsi muscle area in relation to N and CRN, but showed lower fat percentage in the carcass. The N showed meat with coarser texture, lower tenderness, when evaluated by Warner-Bratzler Shear, and higher thawing losses. No differences were observed among genetic groups for subcutaneous fat thickness, meat color, marbling, tenderness evaluated by the test panel, palatability, juiciness and cooking losses.
carcass; Charolais; meat; Nellore; oat grain; sorghum grain
