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Carcass Composition, Quality and Palatability Attributes of Bulls and Steers Fed Different Energy Levels and Killed at Four Ages¹ ,^,2

University of Nebraska, Lincoln 68583 and and U. S. Department of Agriculture

Abstract

Carcasses of bulls and steers fed at two energy levels were compared at 12, 15, 18 and 24 months of age for carcass composition and taste panel evaluation. A sub-set of visually matched wholesale rib cuts selected from bulls, steer mates and steer carcasses of unknown origin was also evaluated by the taste panel. At all ages bulls made faster gains on less feed per unit of gain and had less fat in the carcass than steers. There was a slight but consistent tendency for bulls to exhibit more advanced maturity than steers of the same chronological age. Quality grade factors and taste panel evaluation scores of meat were generally higher for steers than for bulls but differences were small. Average taste panel scores for meat from bulls were acceptable. When visually matched rib cuts of contemporary bulls and steers were compared there were small but consistent taste panel evaluation differences in favor of steers. Differences in taste panel scores between ribs from bulls and visually matched ribs of steer carcasses of unknown origin were small and generally nonsignificant.

¹ Published as Paper No. 5112 Journal Series, Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station, Lincoln.

² The authors thank Robert L. Leverette, Livestock Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, for grading all carcasses in this study and Dr. Pauline Paul, Food and Nutrition Department, University of Nebraska, for the taste panel evaluation.

³ Animal Science Department, University of Nebraska.

⁴ Meat Science Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705.