This work was conducted with the objective to study three concentrate levels in the diet in combination with silage of two sorghum silage hybrids, on the carcass and meat quality of crossbred steers with Charolais or Nellore predominance. Sixty animals were finished in feedlot from 20 to 22 months, with 322 kg of initial weight, and were allotted to completely randomized design 3 x 2 x 2 factorial scheme, according to three concentrate levels (25, 35 and 45% of the diet dry matter), silage of two sorghum silage hybrids (forage and double purpose sorghum) and two genetic groups. The interaction was significant between sorghum hybrid and genotype for thawing loss characteristic. Steers fed double purpose sorghum silage showed meat with better flavor (6.37 ± 0.14 vs 5.74 ± 0.14 points), lower cooking loss (26.7 ± 0.8 vs 29.2 ± 0.8%) and meat of worse coloration (3.49 ± .15 vs 4.00 ± .15 points) than those fed with double purpose silage. Meat tenderness increased with the increase of diet concentrate level, being 5.40 ± .16, 5.71 ± .26 and 6.42 ± .23 points, respectively, for 25, 35 and 45%, the same was verified for carcass conformation, 9.7 ± .4, 9.8 ± .3 and 10.8 ± .4, written in the same order. Between genotypes, Charolais crossbred steers displayed better carcass conformation (10.8 ± .3 vs 9.4 ± .3 points) and more tender meat (6.43 ± .18 vs 5.26 ± .21 points), juicier (5.99 ± .11 vs 5.60 ± .13 points), with lower thawing loss (6.40+ .51 vs 8.69 ± .58%) and with higher marbling score (4.76 ± .30 vs 3.77 ± .34 points), while Nellore crossbred steers showed higher carcass fat percentage (22.3 ± .6 vs 18.9 ± .5%).
Bos taurus indicus; Bos taurus taurus; carcass characteristics; marbling; meat characteristics; meat tenderness
