The objective of this work was to study the carcass and meat characteristics of cull cows, of different Charolais (C) X Nellore (N) compositions, finished in feedlot. Twenty-five C, 3/4 C + 1/4 N, 1/2 C + 1/2 N cull cows, were used. The dressing percentage was higher for 3/4 C + 1/4 N (51.1%) and 1/2 C + 1/2 N (50.8%) cows than for C (49.0%) cows. Nevertheless, the cold carcass weight was higher for 3/4 C + 1/4 N (272kg) than the C (250kg) cows. Subcutaneous fat thickness was higher for 1/2 C + 1/2 N than for C and 3/4 C + 1/4 N cows, being 6.86, 4.86 and 4.92mm, respectively. The arm perimeter was higher for C (37.4cm) than 1/2 C + 1/2 N (35.3cm) cows. The 1/2 C + 1/2 N cows showed less muscle percentage than the other genotypes and less bone percentage than C cows, and higher fat percentage than 3/4 C + 1/4 N and C, being also superior in muscle + fat / bone ratio (6.52) than C (5.56).
dressing percentage; fat thickness; meat quality
