Survey of beef carcass quality graded in Tabasco State, Mexico

  • José Manuel Zorrilla Ríos
  • Ivon Araceli Covarrubias Mandujano
  • Margarita Hernández Galindo
  • Jorge Hernández Góbora
  • Gabriel Moreno Llamas
  • Phillip A Lancaster

Abstract

A survey of beef carcass grading included 22 294 carcasses produced in tropical humid (Am) and sub-humid (Aw) climates subjected to the Mexican norm NMX-FF-078-SCFI-2002, between November 2009 and February 2010, at the No. 51 Federal Inspected Abattoir, in Tabasco State. The aim was to identify areas for improvement of carcass quality as influenced by four gender groups (young bull or heifer, up to 2 years of age; mature bull or cow), using five basic evaluation criteria: 1) maturity (age), 2) conformation (muscularity), 3) meat color, 4) fat color, and 5) subcutaneous fat distribution. Quality grades were designated: Supreme, Select, Standard, Commercial and Out of Grade. The effect of gender groups on the final quality grade and on each of the five criteria assessed was expressed as percentage proportions of the total number of observations per gender group. Carcasses with final classification as Select were present only in the young bull (18.7%) and heifer (1.1%) groups. Young bull and heifer carcasses were most frequently Standard grade, while those of mature bulls and cows were mostly Commercial grade and Out of grade. No carcass merited a final grade of Supreme due to inadequate conformation. It may be concluded that this application of the Mexican beef carcass classification norm in question to a sample population of tropically-produced carcasses highlights an industry capable of producing slaughter animals of early age, with carcasses showing adequate meat and fat color and subcutaneous fat distribution, but wanting improved conformation.

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Author Biographies

José Manuel Zorrilla Ríos
Profesor-Investigador Titular B Departamento de Producción Animal Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias Universidad de Guadalajara Jalisco, México
Ivon Araceli Covarrubias Mandujano
Estudiante de la carrera de Médico Veterinario Zootecnista en el Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias de la Universidad de Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Margarita Hernández Galindo
Profesora Tiempo Completo Titular C Departamento de Producción Animal Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias Universidad de Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Jorge Hernández Góbora
Profesor Titular C Departamento de Producción Animal Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias Universidad de Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Gabriel Moreno Llamas
Profesor Titular C Departamento de Producción Animal Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias Universidad de Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mëxico
Phillip A Lancaster
Assistant Professor Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida, Range Cattle Research and Education Center, 3401 Experiment Station. Ona, FL 33865. USA.
Published
2014-05-07
How to Cite
Zorrilla Ríos, José Manuel, Ivon Araceli Covarrubias Mandujano, Margarita Hernández Galindo, Jorge Hernández Góbora, Gabriel Moreno Llamas, and Phillip A Lancaster. 2014. “Survey of Beef Carcass Quality Graded in Tabasco State, Mexico”. Archivos Latinoamericanos De Producción Animal 22 (3-4). https://ojs.alpa.uy/index.php/ojs_files/article/view/2329.
Section
Original paper