Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o crescimento alométrico, a correlação dos cortes com as meia-carcaças e o índice de musculosidade da perna de cordeiros ½ Dorper + ½ Santa Inês abatidos com 2,0, 3,0 e 4,0 mm de espessura de gordura subcutânea (EGS). Utilizaram-se 24 cordeiros machos, não castrados, distribuídos de acordo com seu peso, em três baias coletivas. Os abates ocorreram à medida que os cordeiros atingiram a EGS pré-determinada por ultrassonografia. As meia-carcaças foram pesadas, dissecadas e separadas em cinco cortes: pescoço, paleta, costilhar, lombo e perna. Estes cortes foram dissecados e pesados em músculo, gordura subcutânea, gordura intermuscular e osso. Na paleta, cordeiros com 2,0 e 4,0 mm de EGS mostraram crescimento precoce. No costilhar, observou-se essa precocidade em cordeiros com 4,0 mm de EGS. A perna mostrou crescimento isogônico em cordeiros com 3,0 e 4,0 mm de EGS e foi o corte que melhor correlacionou-se com a meia-carcaça, independentemente da EGS. O abate de cordeiros ½ Dorper + ½ Santa Inês com 4,0 mm de espessura de gordura subcutânea permite obter melhor crescimento alométrico dos cortes paleta, costilhar e perna, bem como melhor índice de musculosidade da perna.
Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the allometric growth, the correlation of the cuts with the half carcasses, and the muscularity index of the leg of ½ Dorper + ½ Santa Inês lambs slaughtered with 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mm of subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT). Twenty-four non-castrated male lambs were used, being distributed according to their weight into three collective pens. Slaughtering occurred as the lambs reached the SFT predetermined by ultrasound. The half carcasses were weighed, dissected, and separated into five cuts: neck, shoulders, rib, loin, and leg. These cuts were dissected and weighed into muscle, subcutaneous fat, intermuscular fat, and bone. In the shoulders, lambs with 2.0 and 4.0 mm SFT showed early growth. In the rib, this early precocity was observed in lambs with 4.0 mm SFT. The leg showed isogonic growth in lambs with 3.0 and 4.0 mm SFT and was the cut that best correlated with the half carcass, regardless of the SFT. The slaughter of ½ Dorper + ½ Santa Inês lambs with 4.0 mm of subcutaneous fat allows obtaining a better allometric growth of the shoulder, rib, and leg cuts, as well as a better leg muscularity index.
