Carcass composition of the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Abstract

(1) Six buffalo bulls 14–48 months old were slaughtered and subjected to detailed anatomical dissection.

(2) The dressing percentage of 55.2 was greater than that in cattle of similar carcass fatness (10.6).

(3) Muscle constituted 37.1% of empty liveweight.

(4) The carcasses had a high proportion by weight of muscle (68.6%), a low proportion of bone (17.3%), and a low proportion of fat (10.6%) relative to the proportions found in steer carcasses of similar muscle plus bone weights or total dissected fat percentages.

(5) A study of muscle weight distribution showed that the spinal muscle group formed a lesser proportion of total muscle than in bovine steers, while the muscles of the proximal forelimb, those of the thorax passing onto the forelimb, and the intrinsic muscles of neck and thorax formed a greater proportion. The possibility of a sex effect on muscle weight distribution was discussed.

(6) Fat distribution featured a high proportion of intermuscular fat relative to subcutaneous fat, and the proportions of kidney and channel fats were greater than those encountered in comparable bovine steer carcasses.