Abstract

The introduction of new breeds for commercial crossing requires an insight into changes in the histological structure of the skins. Experiments were carried out on crossbreeds from Black-and-White cows x Italian beef bulls: Piemontese, Chianina and Marcjigiana, the control group being young Black-and-White bulls.

At slaughter, skin tissue samples were collected for histological and ultrastructural studies. The skins of the Italian beef bull breed crosses were characterised by a very well formed splicing of the collagen fibres and a dense network of elastin fibres. A higher proportion of the reticular layer (corium) and the grain sublayer (upper part of the grain layer, above the sebaceous and sweat glands) (8) were found in the dermis of the crossbreeds. This considerably increased the values of the mechanical parameters of the skins. Differences in the tensile and tear strengths of the leather between the Piemontese and Marchigiana crosses were statistically significant (P <0.05). The properties of the interweaving and spacing of the collagen fibres were highly correlated to the tensile and tear strengths.