A carcass and meat quality evaluation of eleven beef and dual-purpose breeds in South West Africa

Abstract

Abstract taken from Opsommings Bloemfontein 1967, pp. 38-40:

Statistically significant differences between breeds were revealed in respect of carcass grade. The carcasses of the Afrikaner, A 'XSXH, BHXA, Bonsmara and Hereford graded the highest and those of the Simmental, Brown Swiss, Pinzgauer and Sussex the lowest

At 22 months of age the average carcass grade of the steers was significantly (P O. 05) higher than that of the bulls, and at 30 months of age it was highly significantly higher in the case of the former. The eye-muscle area of the Hereford was significantly (P 0. 01) smaller than that of the other breeds. The eye-muscle area of the Simmental, Afrikaner, Brown Swiss and Sussex was the largest, both absolutely and relatively

The eye-muscle area of the bulls was significantly (P 0. 01) larger than that of the steers, but at equal carcass weight no sig- nificant (P 0. 05) difference was revealed

The most favourable relation between hind and forequarter was found in the case of the BHXA, Simmental, South Devon and Brown Swiss and the least favourable in the Sussex, Bonsmara and Pinzgauer

The hindquarters of bulls were statistically significantly heavier than those of steers but relatively the reverse was found. The forequarters of bulls were heavier than those of steers, both absolutely and relatively

In respect of the retail cuts, differences between the various breeds were, mostly, due to differences in carcass weight

The Simmental, Brown Swiss and BHXA were able to put on more weight, both on an absolute and relative basis, in the valuable parts of the carcass when compared with the Sussex and Hereford

The absolute weights of the valuable parts of the carcasses of bulls were heavier than that of steers, but the relative weights revealed the opposite

A heavy weight and high percentage (per 100 Ib of carcass weight) of muscle in the valuable cuts were characteristic of the Simmental, Brown Swiss, BHXA and Pinzgauer when compared with the Hereford, South Devon, Afrikaner and Sussex

The weight of muscle in these parts of the bulls was heavier than that of steers on an absolute basis only

The weight of fat in the valuable cuts of the Simmental, Sussex, Pinzgauer and Brown Swiss was the lightest and that of the BHXA, A'XSXH, Bonsmara, and Hereford, the heaviest, both absolutely and relatively

The fat in these parts of the steers was heavier, both on an absolute and relative basis, than that of bulls

The percentage of muscle in the carcass of the Simmental, Pinzgauer, Sussex (22 months of age), Afrikaner and Bonsmara (30 months of age) was the highest and that of the BHXA (22 months of age) and Hereford, the lowest

The percentage muscle of bulls was higher (P 0. 01) than that of steers

The percentage fat of the A'XSXH (22 months of age), BHXA, Hereford, Bonsmara, Afrikaner (22 and 30 months of age) and South Devon (30 months of age) was the highest and that of the Simmental, Sussex and Pinzgauer (22 and 30 months of age) the lowest

The percentage fat of steers was significantly (P 0'01) higher than that of bulls

The percentage of bone revealed no statistically significant difference between the breeds or sexes

The muscle of the Simmental, Brown Swiss and Bonsmara was the heaviest and that of the Afrikaner, Hereford, Sussex and BHXA the lightest

The muscle of bulls was heavier than that of steers, both absolutely and relatively

The fat of the BHXA, A 'XSXH, Hereford, Bonsmara and South Devon was the heaviest and that of the Sussex and Simmental the lightest, both on an absolute and relative basis

The fat of steers was heavier than that of bulls, both absolutely and relatively

Highly significant positive correlations were revealed between the S. G. of the wing rib and the S. G. of the carcass, the S. G. of the hindquarter and eye-muscle area, while highly significant negative correlations were established between S. G. of the wing rib and calculated weight of fat in the carcass, percentage of fat in the carcass, percentage of edible meat in the carcass, weight of fat in the valuable cuts, percentage of fat in the valuable cuts and fat thickness over the eye-muscle

The meat of the BHXA was the toughest, and that of the South Devon the most tender according to both the Warner-Bratzler shear values and taste panel scores, at both 22 and 30 months of age

The meat of steers was slightly more tender than that of bulls

The taste panel was unable to detect any differences between meat from bulls and that from steers even at the advanced age of two- and- a-half years

As this study was originally planned to attempt to fulfil the requirements of the farming section of the beef industry in South West Africa, it can be concluded that the results of this study, under conditions of present price relationships in respect of weight and grade, point to the use of the "lean breeds" such as the Simmental and Brown Swiss, in planned crossbreeding programmes with the Afrikaner or one of the European beef breeds, such as the Hereford, to ensure the desired weight for age and, therefore, the highest profit and also to satisfy consumer and trade preferences

When considering the present management systems and the extensive conditions in South West Africa, it is felt that the production of entire animals, in this region, will not be practicable in the near future

The original data of this study, as well as the analysis thereof, are available at the Department of Animal Science of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Orange Free State, South Africa