Results

The results referring to changes in body weight, feed efficiency, backfat and
muscle area during the treatments are shown in Table 1. Body weight increased in all
groups, over time. The greatest increase was in glucon plus nitron group, moderate
increase in glucon or nitron, while the least increase was in control group. All
treatments promoted higher (p<0.05) increase in body weight over time, comparing to
control group, especially the glucon plus nitron group.
The feed efficiency, on the other hand, decreased over time. This efficiency was
greater in glucon plus nitron, moderate in glucon or nitron, and least in the control
group. All treatments show major values (p<0.05) of feed efficiency over time, when
compared to those of control group.
In all groups, backfat increased over time, being greatest (p<0.05) in all glucon-
treated cattle and least in those not treated with glucon. The muscle area, in turn,
increased over time in all groups. This increase was greatest in all nitron-treated cattle
and least in those not treated with nitron.


Table1. Results of body and feed parameters in Angus steers


a-c within an endpoint, means within a column without a common letter differ (p<0.05).