Carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs fed with cassava foliage hay and spineless cactus.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the total or partial replacement of Tifton 85 hay (TH) by cassava foliage hay (CH) and/or spineless cactus (SC) on the carcass characteristics and meat quality of confined lambs. Thirty-five Dorper x Santa Inês crossbred lambs were used, with an initial average weight of 16.0 ± 1.9 kg, fed with five treatment diets: 70% TH, 70% CH, 35% TH + 35% CH, 35% TH + 35% SC, and 35% CH + 35% SC. After 90 days of confinement, the animals were slaughtered and the carcass and meat data were compared using the Tukey test at 5%. The partial replacement of TH by SC increased the cold carcass weight by 3.9 kg (p < .05). The proportion of fat (%) increased (p < .05) when TH was replaced by CH + SC. The intensity of red (a*) was lower (p < .05) in the meat of animals fed with CH or CH + SC. It is recommended to partially replace TH with SC, or to replace totally with CH in association with SC.