This trial wasconducted to study the effects of replacing corn with increasing levels of cassavastarch by-products on carcass and meat characteritics for fedlot young bulls.Percentages of substitution were 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100, in dry matter basis.Forty crossbred bulls (½ and ¾ Bos taurus x Bos índicus),averaging 21 months old and 363 kg of initial body weight and 570 kg of finalbody weight were assigned to a block design with eight replicates by treatment.No effect of treatment on carcass traits was detected. The averages were asfollows: carcass yield, 54.79%; conformation, 12.32 (good +); carcass length,132.5 cm; cushion thickness, 28.12 cm; ribeye area, 79.25 cm2; porcentagesof bone, 15.51%, of muscle, 64.12%, and of fat, 20.85%; muscle + fat/bone relation, 5.52; edible portion percentage, 85.07%; fat thickness, 4.02 mm; and marbling,3.9 (light -). No effect of treatment on chemical composition of meat was detected,with averages of 1.01; 19.16 and 2.24%, respectively, for ash, protein, andfat. There was significant difference for humidity, with higher percentage for50% replacement diet (74.67%) and lower for 25% replacement diet (72.89%). Theother treatments had intermediate values. No treatment effects were observedand mean values for the studied traits indicate that the obtained carcassesfulfill the expected requirements of market.
