Association between temperament with meat and carcass quality in Nelore beef cattle

• Grant number: 15/02005-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2015
• End date: April 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Ecology of Domestic Animals and Ethology
• Principal Investigator: Paula Pimentel Valente
• Grantee: Thais Sgarbiero
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The temperament characteristics of farm animals are important for productive systems, once the reactive animals have less capacity to adapt to handling, being stressed more severely. Therefore, there is evidence of cattle temperament influence on carcass and meat quality traits such as pH, color and tenderness. The aim of this project is to evaluate the association of cattle temperament with carcass and meat quality in Nellore breed. The evaluations will be carried out in a private beef farm, the Agropecuária São Marcelo, performing a database with at least 1500 temperament and carcass quality assessments and 200 meat quality records. The cattle temperament will be evaluated using three indicators: movement score into the cattle crush, crush score and the flight speed test. The carcass and meat quality traits will be assessed as follows: hot carcass weight, subcutaneous fat cover, rib eye area, final pH, color and shear force. The data analyses will be performed using descriptive statistics and an exploratory multivariate method, the principal component analysis, for this a data matrix will be done, including the temperament, carcass and meat variables. The association of temperament with meat and carcass traits will also be assessed using Pearson's coefficient of correlation.