Effects of A Concentrate Rich in Agro-Industrial By-Products on Productivity Results Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality Traits of Finishing Heifers

摘要

In geographic areas where it is not possible to finish beef cattle on pastures or preserved forages, diets are mainly based on cereals. This intensive feeding system competes for feed with other species and does not take advantage of the capacity of ruminants to digest fibrous feeds. Moreover, cereal-rich diets for ruminants cannot be considered sustainable under current policy guidelines and make no significant contribution to the circular bioeconomy. We assayed an alternative intensive finishing diet for beef heifers where agro-industrial by-products, some of them highly fibrous ones, comprised 73.5% of the concentrate. We found that there were no differences in growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits between treatments, which might be considered positive from the point of view of sustainability of beef production. We also found that instrumental measures of meat related to important sensory attributes for consumer acceptance can be improved by increasing ageing time from 7 to 21 or 28 days.