Comparative assessment of slaughter qualities and morphological composition of half-carcasses of Limousin bulls of different selections

The research conducted is devoted to the problem of increasing the efficiency of beef production by assessing the genetic potential of Limousin bulls of different breeding origins. The results obtained indicate that within a single breed there is a significant differentiation in the productive qualities of animals, which is determined by the direction of selection in a particular country. The research was conducted at LLC “Lvivske” in the Lviv region on Limousin bulls of different countries of selection (Hungary, Poland, Ukraine). It was found that Hungarian-bred bulls were characterised by their massive size, which gives them an advantage in terms of slaughter performance. In particular, at 18 months of age, they reach the highest pre-slaughter live weight (559.5 kg) and have the heaviest carcasses after slaughter. However, analysis of the morphological composition showed that the high live weight of these animals is partly due to massive skeletal development and intensive fat deposition, which is a sign of early physiological maturation. On the other hand, Polish-bred bulls had the most desirable carcass composition from a technological point of view. It has been proven that this genotype combines high growth energy with a unique ability to form muscle tissue with a relatively thin skeleton. This allowed Polish bulls to achieve the highest slaughter yield (64.6 %) and meat yield (81.0 %), which is one of the highest indicators for the breed. The varietal composition of their half-carcasses is of particular value: the yield of grade I meat reaches 82.0 %, while the content of low-grade raw materials (grade III meat) is 4.4 %. Animals of Ukrainian selection in all studied age periods significantly lagged behind foreign analogues in terms of slaughter indicators, morphological and varietal composition of half-carcasses and had lower indices of meatiness, muscle tissue and meat-bone ratio. The use of dispersion analysis made it possible to establish the influence of breeding origin and age of bulls on their meat productivity. It was found that the country of selection had the most significant effect on bone mass (53.7 %), tendons (49.4 %) and the yield of grade III meat (67.2 %). On the other hand, the age factor (fattening duration) is decisive for quantitative weight indicators: it determines 51.7 % of the pre-slaughter live weight and 53.4% of the weight of the pulp. An almost identical dependence of the yield of grade I meat on both factors has been established, which scientifically justifies the expediency of combining the best global gene pool with technologically sound growing periods of up to 18 months in order to achieve maximum economic efficiency.