This study evaluated the effects of corn silage-based diets on the carcass characteristics, meat quality and consumer acceptability of Philippine native swamp buffaloes or carabao. Two corn silage-based diets were separately offered at 60% corn silage + 40% concentrate and 100% corn silage to six (6) young male carabaos aged 18–24 months for 150 days finishing period in which the parameters measured included carcass traits, meat quality, and consumer acceptability. The growth performance observed that carabaos fed with corn silage with concentrate had heaviest final body weight, higher ADG and more efficient FCR compared to those fed with 100% corn silage. After 5 months of the finishing phase, carabaos were slaughtered and samples of longissimus dorsi muscle were collected. The result showed carcass characteristics and meat quality parameters, including pH, color, and water holding capacity, were not significantly affected by corn silage-based diets (p > 0.05). The Carabeef of T2 received higher juiciness, tenderness, taste and overall acceptability scores. In conclusion, integrating concentrate with corn silages improves ADG and FCR without compromising carcass and meat quality for practical feeding strategy for enhancing carabao productivity. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to validate these findings.
