**7. Conclusions**

In European countries, usually goats are slaughtered with a low weight being kid or suckling kid, the most demanded product, presenting carcasses that usually are lean, and having poor conformation and low subcutaneous fat.

In tissue composition, goat species present generally a high muscle and bone percentages and low fat contents. Perirenal fat is very important in goat, being also a remarkable criterion for carcass quality and classification.

Related to meat quality attributes, pH results usually are higher in goat with respect to lambs. Also, goat (kids) presented low color intensity (small values of luminosity, yellowness, Chroma and hue).

Usually tenderness is higher in lamb than in goats; The difference associated with differences in collagen content and other factors such as fat content or muscle fiber composition also affects tenderness. Small differences between breeds are reported only at short aging periods.

Related to proximate composition, meat from goat is characterized by a higher water content, lower energetic contribution, and lower fat content than ovine species. Being, on kids, possible discriminate breeds (purpose) and fattening diets by their fat composition.

Related to sensorial acceptability of meat from goat, there are differences between breeds and age of slaughter, being preferred young kids respect heavy or adults by presenting not so strong taste. Overall, milky to meat purpose kids mainly affected by a higher tenderness of milky kids are also preferred.

It is undeniable that goat meat has it own characteristics, which are different from other ruminant species; however, it presents a good acceptability comparable with lamb meat, a species whose consumption is more worldwide spread, especially when young and milk kids are considered; then, an adequate cultural development of goat meat characteristics could contribute to its consolidation by increasing its demand, because it has its own characteristics and singular high-quality attributes.
