Contusões de diferentes severidades em carcaças bovinas com diferentes idades e graus de acabamento

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of bruises in different cuts of bovine carcasses within the different finishing classifications and different ages evaluated by the animal dentition at slaughter. A total of 225,287 carcasses of slaughtered beef cattle were harvested during the years 2014 and 2015. The bruises were classified into 6 classes (hind, hip, loin, ribs, front and innumerous) and two severities (medium and severe) evaluated at 5 degrees of finishes (1,2,3,4,5) and later in 5 ages (milk teeth, 2 teeth, 4 teeth, 5 teeth, 6 teeth). The data were analyzed in statistical software SAS Univerity Edition. The results showed that the mean severity contusions are more frequent than the severe contusions, regardless of the carcass finishing of the animals. The hindquarters and the hip are the sites with the highest occurrence of carcass bruises. Because they are the most frequent carcasses in the line of slaughter, the animals with medium finish are the most representative carcasses among those injured. There is a relationship between the age of the animal and the incidence of medium or severe bruises, and the frequency of these increases with the advancement of the age of the animals. It was also concluded that both medium and severe injuries occur more frequently in the hip, followed by the rear, indicating that the origin of these problems are more related to the facilities and roads than to maltreatment by people who handle the animals for boarding, landing and driving for numbness.