**Carcass and Meat Quality in Goat**

Ana Guerrero, María del Mar Campo, José Luis Olleta

**Carcass and Meat Quality in Goat**

Ana Guerrero, María del Mar Campo, José Luis Olleta and Carlos Sañudo and Carlos Sañudo Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72095

#### **Abstract**

Goat is a worldwide spread species with different specialities and aptitudes, among the meat production. Its consumption varies widely depending on the region of the world considered. However, a common factor is the presence of few studies in comparison with ovine, especially those that characterize the quality of its products (related to carcass and meat). Generation, availability, and diffusion of characteristics of the species and its production, generated from scientific studies, could help breeders and society on their education and raising global awareness of its importance, conservation, and productive possibilities. Goat has its own specific characteristics related to quality with a presumed good acceptability of its products by consumers. On the current chapter, the effects of the main factors that modify carcass and meat quality in goat are compiled. Both, intrinsic factors (breed or breed type, age, weight at slaughter or gender) and some extrinsic factors (as production system, type of suckling, and aging) are discussed.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.72095

**Keywords:** acceptability, instrumental analyses, kid, proximate composition, sensory

#### **1. Introduction**

Goat is the most widespread livestock species, as [1] reported and listed. There is an important visible genetic variation on goat species, with approximately 570 different breeds, with their own morphological characteristics, productive performances, and adaptation to specific climate and environment. Breeds are classified in 5 specialities: meat, milk, prolificacy, fiber (pashmina—cashmere and mohair), and skin. Currently, there are more than 1 billion heads around the world [2], with 57.4% of the census located in Asia, 37.0% in Africa, and 3.5% in America, representing Europe 1.6% and Oceania 0.4%. Over the last 50 years, as [3] compiled, goat population has multiplied by 2.4 times while other livestock species have maintained it or reduced. Nevertheless, goats in most countries are kept in small herds, not always very

Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

profitable and in various aspects dependent on different monetary or political supports from governments or local entities, as it was concluded in the 2014 European Regional Conference [4]. Goat has demonstrated to be a really important livestock in different parts of the world, mainly due to its versatility and high adaptation's capacity to different production systems from the high intensification, in the most developed countries on dairy herds, to the hard conditions of arid areas. On the other hand, some studies have shown that a correct management of goats on grasslands can also help to increase plant biomass and biodiversity [3], having also a social function by fixing people to the territory, avoiding more movements to big nucleus-cities, and consequently depopulating the rural areas.

Texture analyses are assessed by texturometers which have different blades that let obtain mainly values related to shear force or resistance to compression of meat samples (raw or cooked). Some standard protocols to determine texture have been proposed by Honikel and Lepetit and Culioli [11, 12] and summarized in [13]. Proximate composition of meat can be defined by the quantification of its different components such as moisture, ash, protein, or fat evaluated according to International Organization for Standardization Protocols (ISO). For the fatty acid analysis, intramuscular fat can be extracted by various protocols as those suggested by [14] and after the methyl esterification samples are analyzed by gas chromatography. Related to sensorial analyses, a trained panel let obtain objective scores of the sensorial attributes of meat [15] and the use of different kinds of consumer hedonic test show the acceptability of consumers related to the product [16]. Detailed information about different

Carcass and Meat Quality in Goat

269

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72095

methodologies cited in this section and along the chapter can be consulted in [17–19].

**3. State of the art: goat meat production and some general concepts** 

and Spain also presented a significant production with 12,077 t and 8010 t, respectively.

The differences between the commented countries or world regions, can reside in the own use and habits of consumption of goat meat. Especially for consumers in developing countries [20], goat food products represent an important nutrient source, being this species an important part of the habitual diet of the population, as well as an important resource for income (until more than 70% of the total on small holder farms [1]). However, for Western consumers, goat food products (particularly dairy products) are considered luxurious, and goat meat consumption has a low frequency rate, being mainly associated to punctual-festive events, specific regions, or associated to label quality brands as a high-quality difference

The concept of quality is complex and dependent on the aspect that it is considered. Usually, quality is defined as "All those attributes for what consumers are willing to pay more," or an extra in the base prize in order to have some specific attributes guaranteed. Quality can be associated to different aspects as nutritional attributes (low fat content or healthy fat profile), production system (sustainable, organic or welfare friendly, for instance) or particular sensorial attributes (optimal odor, texture or flavor and, at the end, some extra hedonic satisfaction). Many of these aspects could be related with certain quality labels that support or guarantee the extra paid quality.

The billon of goat census by FAO on 2014 [2], produced 5,524,075 annual tonnes of meat. According to the world distribution of goat, the main meat production occurs in Asia (71.9%), followed by Africa (23.5%), America (2.2%), and Europe (1.9%), being the production in Oceania only 0.5% of the total meat goat production. Classifying those data by countries, the top five producers currently are: China (2,098,100 t), India (505,064 t), Pakistan (309,000 t), Nigeria (244,575 t), and Bangladesh (208,613 t). In Europe, the situation has not changed too much in the last years [3], with a low goat meat production compared to the previously described top five, being Greece the country with the largest meat production (23,893 t), followed by Eastern European countries such as Russian Federation (17,515 t), Albania (14,850 t), and Romania (9126 t); France

**about product quality**

product.

To support goat production is necessary the generation, availability and diffusion to the people, of new and diverse information related to characteristics of the species, possibilities of production, product quality and its benefits for the humanity's future [4]. As already [1] pointed in the last decade, the possible benefits from science advances on several fields, considering goat, are not yet so extent as on other livestock species, although that scientific generated information could help breeders and society on their education and raising global awareness of the species. Because the knowledge generated can be applied on everyday management, building a more sustainable and prosperous future on goat. With this aim of spread knowledge and application of the science, in this chapter, factors that affect carcass and meat quality will be analyzed, mainly focusing on the expertise and experience obtained from experimental studies and results developed by the authors.

## **2. Material and methods**

In general a standardization of methodologies in any field of research would be necessary. This would allow the creation of universal and homogenous databases, letting the comparison of studies and their diverse variables in a global way around the world. This idea is more than a necessity in the twenty-first century.

Related to carcass quality in small ruminants, it is fundamental to compile some basic information about animals, as age and weight, that let an official classification according to the different categories existent depending of each State legislations. Afterward, an external classification according to morphology and fatness is necessary, using the official European Systems based on photographic models [5, 6]. Also morphological measurements, as those suggested by [7–9], help to compare carcass characteristics, in an objective way, including compactness indexes of the studied animals. In the same way, a standard protocol for cutting and dissect representative parts of the carcass (shoulder or leg) could be important, as those reported by [8, 10], to obtain information about tissular composition and the real value of commercial cuts.

Evaluation of meat quality can be defined by different attributes or variables. Firstly, monitoring pH with a commercial pH meters is necessary to verify the absence of alterations in this parameter, a fact that would modify other meat quality variables. An objective definition of color using the CIEL\*a\*b\* system with diverse types of spectrocolorimetres let define color in some basis variables as luminosity (L\*), yellowness (b\*), redness (a\*), tone (H°) or chrome (C\*). The standardization of measuring conditions, as instance blooming, should be indicated. Texture analyses are assessed by texturometers which have different blades that let obtain mainly values related to shear force or resistance to compression of meat samples (raw or cooked). Some standard protocols to determine texture have been proposed by Honikel and Lepetit and Culioli [11, 12] and summarized in [13]. Proximate composition of meat can be defined by the quantification of its different components such as moisture, ash, protein, or fat evaluated according to International Organization for Standardization Protocols (ISO). For the fatty acid analysis, intramuscular fat can be extracted by various protocols as those suggested by [14] and after the methyl esterification samples are analyzed by gas chromatography. Related to sensorial analyses, a trained panel let obtain objective scores of the sensorial attributes of meat [15] and the use of different kinds of consumer hedonic test show the acceptability of consumers related to the product [16]. Detailed information about different methodologies cited in this section and along the chapter can be consulted in [17–19].

profitable and in various aspects dependent on different monetary or political supports from governments or local entities, as it was concluded in the 2014 European Regional Conference [4]. Goat has demonstrated to be a really important livestock in different parts of the world, mainly due to its versatility and high adaptation's capacity to different production systems from the high intensification, in the most developed countries on dairy herds, to the hard conditions of arid areas. On the other hand, some studies have shown that a correct management of goats on grasslands can also help to increase plant biomass and biodiversity [3], having also a social function by fixing people to the territory, avoiding more movements to big

To support goat production is necessary the generation, availability and diffusion to the people, of new and diverse information related to characteristics of the species, possibilities of production, product quality and its benefits for the humanity's future [4]. As already [1] pointed in the last decade, the possible benefits from science advances on several fields, considering goat, are not yet so extent as on other livestock species, although that scientific generated information could help breeders and society on their education and raising global awareness of the species. Because the knowledge generated can be applied on everyday management, building a more sustainable and prosperous future on goat. With this aim of spread knowledge and application of the science, in this chapter, factors that affect carcass and meat quality will be analyzed, mainly focusing on the expertise and experience obtained from

In general a standardization of methodologies in any field of research would be necessary. This would allow the creation of universal and homogenous databases, letting the comparison of studies and their diverse variables in a global way around the world. This idea is more

Related to carcass quality in small ruminants, it is fundamental to compile some basic information about animals, as age and weight, that let an official classification according to the different categories existent depending of each State legislations. Afterward, an external classification according to morphology and fatness is necessary, using the official European Systems based on photographic models [5, 6]. Also morphological measurements, as those suggested by [7–9], help to compare carcass characteristics, in an objective way, including compactness indexes of the studied animals. In the same way, a standard protocol for cutting and dissect representative parts of the carcass (shoulder or leg) could be important, as those reported by [8, 10], to obtain information about tissular composition and the real value of commercial cuts. Evaluation of meat quality can be defined by different attributes or variables. Firstly, monitoring pH with a commercial pH meters is necessary to verify the absence of alterations in this parameter, a fact that would modify other meat quality variables. An objective definition of color using the CIEL\*a\*b\* system with diverse types of spectrocolorimetres let define color in some basis variables as luminosity (L\*), yellowness (b\*), redness (a\*), tone (H°) or chrome (C\*). The standardization of measuring conditions, as instance blooming, should be indicated.

nucleus-cities, and consequently depopulating the rural areas.

experimental studies and results developed by the authors.

**2. Material and methods**

268 Goat Science

than a necessity in the twenty-first century.
