Resumen

ROBLES JIMENEZ, Lizbeth Esmeralda; PARTIDA DE LA PENA, José Armando; ARECHAVALETA VELASCO, Miguel Enrique  y  DOMINGUEZ VARA, Ignacio Arturo. Correlation between ante-mortem and post-mortem variables in sheep carcasses produced in Mexico. Rev. mex. de cienc. pecuarias [online]. 2022, vol.13, n.1, pp.115-126.  Epub 06-Jun-2022. ISSN 2448-6698.  https://doi.org/10.22319/rmcp.v13i1.5986.

The objective of the study was to estimate the correlations of the rib-eye area (REA) and the thickness of the dorsal subcutaneous fat (TDSF) with morphometric variables in sheep carcasses produced in Mexico. Seven hundred fifty sheep carcasses were used, which were grouped by genotype (hair, wool and crossed hair ˣ wool), sex (males and females) and production system (intensive and semi-intensive). The normality of the distribution was determined, and simple correlation analyses were performed to estimate the degree of association between the variables. In hair genotypes, REA correlated with the weight of the carcass both hot and cold (r=0.42**; n=328; P<0.001 in males and r=0.48**; n=91; P<0.001 in females), but in females the perimeter (r=0.52**; n=91; P<0.001) and width of the rump (r=0.48**; n=91; P<0.001) were also relevant. In hair animals, the TDSF correlated with slaughter weight (r=0.36**; n=328; P<0.001 in males and r=0.57**; n=91; P<0.001 in females). In wool males, REA showed high correlation with carcass length (r=0.61**; n=116; P<0.001) and rump perimeter (r=0.50**; n=116; P<0.001), while the TDSF correlated with the internal depth of the thorax (r=0.50**; n=116; P<0.01) and its perimeter (r=0.45**; n=116; P<0.001). In crosses hair ˣ wool, REA had the highest correlation with thorax width (r=0.47**; n=215; P<0.001) and hot carcass weight (r=0.43**; n=215; P<0.001), while the TDSF only had a low correlation with slaughter weight (r=0.19**; n=215; P<0.001).

Palabras llave : Sheep; Carcasses; Correlation; Rib-eye area; Fat thickness.