This work had as objective to evaluate the physical-mechanic characteristics of the leather from one genotype of sheep and three genotypes of goat. Forty three tanned chrome skins were used: 9 Santa Inês sheep, 12 ½ Anglo Nubiano, 16 ½ Boer, all crossbed with animals of non-defined breeds (NDB) and six NBD native goats. In the pre-experimental period, all animals were weaned at 90 days of age approximately and raised under semi-intensive production systems using cultivate pasture. The experimental phase began when the goat (5 moths of age) and sheep (4 moths of age) reached 18.3 kg. The animals were slaughtered with average weight of 30 kg with ages of 180 and 270 days, for sheep and goats, respectively. Genotype and direction factors influenced the results for the progressive tear strength, although all values have been inferior to the reference values recommended for good quality leather. In measurement of the grain distention and strength, no differences were detected among the genotypes, however, for the tensile strength and percentage elongation were observed differences among genotypes or the samples direction. All results were above to the recommended for an industrial quality product.
leather quality; skin; tanning; tensile strength; wet blue
