Animal Science 2004, 79: 213-219 2004 British Society of Animal Science

1357-7298/04/40110213$2000

Meat quality of entire and castrated male Boer goats raised under Australian conditions and slaughtered at different weights: physical characteristics, shear force values and eating quality proles
N. M. Werdi Pratiwi, P. J. Murray and D. G. Taylor
School of Animal Studies, University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Queensland 4343, Australia
E-mail : nmw@sas.uq.edu.au Present address : Baroona Park, Mail Service 1497, Toowoomba, Queensland 4352, Australia.

Abstract
Castrated and entire Boer bucks (no. = 60) in groups of between three and ve animals were slaughtered at 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 and 105 kg live weight (5- and 15-kg animals were not castrated). Ultimate pH, muscle colour (subjective and objective measurement), subcutaneous fat colour, total pigment concentration, shear force values and eating quality were investigated. The ultimate pH of longissimus muscle increased from 57 to 62 (P < 005) as animals were slaughtered at heavier weights. Slaughter weight had an inuence on chromameter muscle colour (L*, a*, b* values) and subjective muscle colour scores recorded using a nine-point colour scale (P < 005) for both entire and castrated bucks. Muscle redness (a* values) and subjective muscle colour scores increased gradually in older animals while muscle lightness and yellowness (L* and b* values) decreased. Subcutaneous fat colour became more yellow at heavier slaughter weights (P < 005). Shear force values were affected (P < 005) by slaughter weight but not by castration of bucks. All eating quality scores were inuenced by slaughter weight but not by castration, and avour, as predicted by eating quality scores, was the most important attribute that contributed to overall acceptability of the goat meat. Keywords: castration, goats, meat quality, slaughter weight.

Introduction
The Boer goat was developed in the middle of the 20th century as a meat breed and is descended from the nomadic goats that travel southern Africa (Malan, 2000). This breed of meat goat was rst imported from South Africa to Australia in the 1990s with the offspring of the original Boers being released in 1995. Since then there has been a growing interest in Boer goats by investors and farmers involved in the development of an Australian goat meat industry (Murray, 1997). Studies in Australia by Dhanda et al. (1999a) have reported that Boer goat crosses with live weights up to 35 kg, have superior growth and carcass characteristics when compared to other goat breeds such as Saanen, Angora, feral and their crosses. The growth rates of the South African Boer breed have been reported to reach over 200 g/ day (McGregor, 1985) and may exceed 100 kg mature live weight (Malan, 2000). Nowadays, goat meat is 213

mostly sourced from goats that are slaughtered to produce relatively small carcasses e.g. capretto with live weights from 14 to 20 kg and chevon with live weights from 30 to 35 kg (Murray, 1998). These carcasses typically come from breeds of goats with small mature size or breeds with larger mature size slaughtered when the animal is relatively immature (Murray, 1997). This leads to the question as to whether Boer goats above 35 kg live weight are able to produce meat with similar characteristics as those under 35 kg live weight. It is believed that larger carcasses and carcasses from mature goats usually have a goatier odour and the meat has a stronger goaty avour compared with the meat from younger animals and this goaty avour can lower consumers acceptance of this type of meat (Sheridan et al., 2003). One solution is to castrate male animals to reduce this goaty odour and avour problem (Shelton, 1992). Castration will not

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Werdi Pratiwi, Murray and Taylor to chevon type carcasses whereas heavier slaughter weight entire Boer bucks would produce carcasses with lower meat quality characteristics.

only eliminate or reduce the odour of mature goats but can improve carcass characteristics and the meat by improving its juiciness and tenderness, as well as facilitating easier handling of these animals (Shelton, 1992). There is also a perception that the meat from older animals is less tender than that from younger animals (Dhanda et al., 1999b). Carcasses of meat animals are evaluated commercially in terms of yield and quality of lean (Pinkerton, 2002). Meat (lean) quality preference varies from country to country, and is greatly inuenced by local customs and preference between groups or ethnicities (Shorthose and Harris, 1991). A recent study has shown that consumers visual judgment of meat quality and acceptability always referred to meat colour as the most important criterion (Carpenter et al., 2001). For this reason, it is difcult to judge the quality of meat from different breeds of goats using a worldwide standard (Naude and Hofmeyr, 1981). Although studies have been published on growth and meat quality of different goat breeds, these have mostly focussed on goats of lighter slaughter weights with the objective of producing capretto or chevon carcasses (Kirton, 1970; Swan et al., 1998; Dhanda et al., 1999a; Husain et al., 2000a and b; Mahgoub et al., 2002; Sheridan et al., 2003). Goats are currently marketed, principally on live weight. If goat producers are going to benet from the heavier live weights available from Boer genes they need to know whether there are measurable differences in meat quality from entire and castrated Boer bucks across a wide range of live weights. This study was conducted to examine meat quality, such as physical characteristics, shear force values and eating quality, of entire and castrated Boer goats raised under Australian conditions and slaughtered at eight live weights spaced between 5 and 105 kg (Table 1). Therefore the hypothesis tested was that meat quality of castrated heavier Boer bucks would have acceptable meat quality characteristics similar
Table 1 Number of animals in each sex and slaughter weight group No. of animals Slaughter weight (kg) 5 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 Castrated 5 5 5 5 4 Entire 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3

Material and methods

Study site The experiment was conducted at the University of Queensland Gatton Campus farm, which is located in South East Queensland, Australia. The area is elevated 91 m above sea level, at latitude 2734S and longitude 15220E. The climate is subhumid and subtropical with an annual maximum temperature during the experiment of 33C (summer period) and an annual minimum temperature of 65C (winter period) while the mean relative humidity during the year was 67% (CSIRO, 2001). Goats A total of 60 Boer male goats were studied. The goats were selected from a large commercial Boer goat stud in Queensland. All kids were reared under the same conditions. They grazed native grasses and had the same access to grassy lucerne hay and goat pellets (crude protein 180 g/kg and metabolizable energy 123 MJ/kg dry matter). A randomized block design was used for allocating goats into groups. Firstly, animals were listed based on pre-weaning growth rates that were slow, average or rapid. Secondly, with this randomized block design the animals were blocked on growth rate, and split into two treatment groups, which was sex type (castrate and entire). The same procedure was applied to allocate animals into slaughter weight groups. This procedure was used to avoid having more animals with slow or average or rapid growth in the one treatment group, so the error of variance was reduced. Kids in one group were castrated using elastrator rubber rings (except kids at 5 and 15 kg live weight) and the other group was left as entire bucks. A total of 3 to 5 animals in each group were slaughtered at different slaughter weights (5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, and 105 kg). All animals were weighed fortnightly and more regularly as they neared target slaughter weights. Male kids in the 5 and 15 kg live weight groups were removed from their does and slaughtered immediately off-farm. This research was approved by The University of Queensland Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee under approval number SAS/005/01/UQ. Animal slaughter On the day prior to slaughter, goats were weighed and then deprived of food overnight but with free access to water. They were weighed again immediately prior to slaughter. All goats were slaughtered and dressed using standard commercial

Slaughter weight, castration and meat quality of Boer goats

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Table 2 Least-squares means and pooled standard errors of the effect of slaughter weight on muscle ultimate pH, muscle colour, total muscle pigment concentration and shear force value of muscle from entire Boer bucks Slaughter weight (kg) 5 Ultimate pH Muscle colour a* L* b* Subjective score Pigment concentration (mg/g) Shear force (N) 57d 182b 632a 52a 16c 24c 329b 15 57d 193b 546b 50ab 22c 24c 670a 30 57d 157c 422d 39bc 42b 18d 691a 45 58cd 253a 465c 33c 46ab 48ab 785a 60 58cd 262a 466c 29c 46ab 40abc 791a 75 59c 255a 442cd 26cd 45ab 35bcd 757a 90 60b 262a 462c 14d 48ab 56a 682a 105 62a 248a 460cd 14d 53a 42abc 734a Pooled s.e. 005 06 12 04 02 06 07

a,b,c,d Means, within the same row, with different superscripts differ (P < 005). Based on nine-point colour scale, 1: pale red, 9: dark red.

techniques (Dhanda et al., 1999a). After removal of the head, skin, fore and hind feet and viscera, carcasses were weighed and then chilled at 2C for 24 h. Sample collection and meat quality parameters The cold carcasses were weighed, split down the dorsal midline and the left side used for meat quality measurements. Left side carcasses were quartered at the 12/13th rib position and ultimate pHs as well as muscle colour (objective and subjective measurements) were determined on the loin eye muscle area at this position, after letting the muscle surface bloom for 30 min. Subcutaneous fat colour was also measured on subcutaneous ventral carcass fat using a 10-point colour scale (0 = white; 9 = yellow), except on carcasses from animals slaughtered at 5 kg live weight, because fat cover had not developed. Muscle colour was determined using a Minolta CR100 chromameter (L* values for lightness, a* values for redness and b* values for yellowness) as well as subjective evaluation using a nine-point colour scale (1 = pale red; 9 = dark red), while muscle ultimate pH was measured using a LC80 pH-mV meter. Total pigment concentrations, as per Warriss (1979), were measured on the longissimus muscles after they were dissected from the carcass. Approximately 5 g of sample was minced and extracted using 25 ml of ice-cold 004-mol/l phosphate buffer (pH 68) and homogenized for 20 s. After standing for 1 hour at 4C, the homogenates were centrifuged for 10 min at 6500 g. A few micrograms of potassium ferricyanide and sodium cyanide were added to the supernatants

to convert the pigments to cyanmet forms and then they were centrifuged for 1 h at 30 000 g and 15C. A Shimadzu spectrophotometer (UV-120-02) was then used to measure absorbance at 540 nm. Total pigment concentrations were calculated by multiplying the absorbance by 145, that was the factor derived from the extinction coefcient of cyanmet myoglobin and a dilution factor based on the water content of the meat. Shear force measurement was carried out on fresh longissimus muscle samples, after being aged for 1 day. The muscles were placed in a plastic bag and cooked in a water bath at 85C for 45 min (Dhanda et al., 1999b). Muscles were cut parallel to the muscle bres with cross sections of 1 1 cm. WarnerBratzler shear force (WBS) apparatus was used to measure shear force values. Eating quality assessments Eating quality was assessed on cooked longissimus muscle samples, except muscles collected from animals slaughtered at 5 kg live weight, because the samples were not big enough for assessment. The cooking method was the same as applied for shear force determinations. The four categories assessed were avour, tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability and they were assessed by eight semitrained panellists. Three representative meat samples were collected from each sex type and slaughter weight group. Each cooked meat sample had been cut into eight pieces of 1 1 cm and were coded and served in random order for testing. There were two sessions of assessment per day and each semi-trained panellist received 6 different pieces of cooked meat samples to be tested per session. Water was provided for each panellist to freshen their mouth between

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Werdi Pratiwi, Murray and Taylor

Table 3 Least-squares means and pooled standard errors of the effect of slaughter weight on muscle ultimate pH, muscle colour, total pigment concentration and shear force value of muscle from castrated Boer bucks Slaughter weight (kg) 30 Ultimate pH Muscle colour a* L* b* Subjective score Pigment concentration (mg/g) Shear force (N)
a,b,c

45 59a 252 473ab 37ab 44a 32b 739

60 59ab 257 468b 31ab 40a 32b 784

75 60a 251 469b 24bc 44a 44b 744

90 58ab 249 488ab 14c 40a 41a 684

Pooled s.e. 01 09 12 05 03 02 06

57b 239 503a 43a 28b 24c 651

Means, within the same row, with different superscripts differ (P < 005). Based on nine-point colour scale, 1: pale red, 9: dark red.

each sample. A nine-point hedonic scale was used with criteria : 1 being dislike extremely to 9 being like extremely (Dhanda et al., 1999b). There were a number of muscle samples from certain slaughter weight groups that were not assessed because they were lost (freezer failure) during storage prior to analysis, and thus their hedonic scores were estimated by using statistical analysis based on the available sensory data. Statistical analysis A two-way analysis of variance with interaction was computed for all the variables tested using the Statistical Analysis Systems Institute (1996) general linear model (GLM) procedure. The statistical model was sex type, slaughter weight and rst order interaction : Yij = + Wi + Sj + WSij + eij; where : Yij = dependent variable of the slaughter weight (i) and of the sex type (j); = overall mean; W i = slaughter weight effect; Sj = sex type effect; WSij = slaughter
Table 4 The effect of sex type on muscle ultimate pH, muscle colour, total pigment concentration and shear force value of muscle Sex type Castrate Ultimate pH Muscle colour a* L* b* Subjective score Pigment concentration (mg/g) Shear force (N)
a,b

weight sex measurement.

type

interaction;

eij = error

of

Correlation coefcients between some variables measured and regression analysis were also computed to estimate the eating quality proles.

Results
Ultimate pH, muscle colour and total pigment concentration There were only small variations in the average ultimate pH of longissimus muscles between slaughter weight groups for entire (Table 2) and castrated (Table 3) Boer bucks. Sex type did not inuence ultimate pH (P > 005) (Table 4). The ultimate pH of longissimus muscles increased slightly (P < 005) as animals grew and reached heavier slaughter weights; values were relatively high starting from muscle taken from animals slaughtered at 75 kg (Table 2). The inuences of slaughter weight were much greater on muscle colour for all objective characteristics (L*, a*, b* values) and subjective muscle colour score (P < 005; Tables 2 and 3). The a* values and subjective colour scores for longissimus muscles became higher and the muscle became darker red at heavier slaughter weights. Subjective muscle colour scores and a* values were positively correlated with total pigment concentration (P < 005). Castration only had a slight effect on total pigment concentrations (P > 005) (Table 4). For the b* values there was a tendency that, with increasing slaughter weight and age, the values decreased (P < 005; Table 2 and 3). Subcutaneous fat colour In general, the subjective scores for subcutaneous fat colour increased with slaughter weight for both sex types, indicating that fat colour became more yellow

Entire 59 226b 487 32 40 36 690

59 250a 480 30 39 35 730

Means, within the same row, with different superscripts differ (P < 005). Based on nine-point colour scale, 1: pale red, 9: dark red.

Slaughter weight, castration and meat quality of Boer goats

7 Subjective fat colour scores 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 15 30 45 60 75 Slaughter weight (kg) 90 105 Flavour Tenderness Juiciness Overall acceptability

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Table 6 Predicted eating quality of cooked meat from longissimus muscles from Boer bucks as affected by sex type Sex type Castrate 67 65 62 67 Entire 63 64 63 65

Scoring criteria, 1: dislike extremely; 9: like extremely.

Figure 1 Mean subjective subcutaneous fat colour scores ( s.e.) from carcasses of entire () and castrated () Boer goats. The fat score was based on a 10-point colour scale (0 = white, 9 = yellow).

at heavier slaughter weights (Figure 1). Subcutaneous fat colour was signicantly inuenced by slaughter weight (P < 005) but not by castration. Shear force value and eating quality proles Least-squares means for WBS values are shown in Tables 2 and 3. The shear force values only differed for longissimus muscles taken from entire Boer bucks slaughtered at 5 kg (P < 005 compared with the other weights), with values greater and relatively similar at heavier slaughter weights (P > 005). Mean values ranged from 329 to 791 N (Table 2). Slaughter weight did not affect shear force values for muscles taken from castrated animals (P > 005) (Table 3). Shear force values in general were not inuenced by sex type (P > 005) (Table 4). Flavour, tenderness,
Table 5 Predicted eating quality of cooked meat from longissimus muscles from Boer bucks as affected by slaughter weight Eating quality Slaughter weight (kg) 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 Pooled s.e.
a,b,c,d,e,f,g

juiciness and overall acceptability were affected by slaughter weight (P < 005) (Table 5) but not by sex type (P > 005) (Table 6). The panellists liking of the cooked meat samples decreased for all criteria assessed with the increase of slaughter weight of the animals from which the samples were taken. In general, castrated Boers produced meat that had higher scores for avour, tenderness and overall acceptability than their entire counterparts. The overall acceptance of the meat quality scores was strongly correlated with avour (099), tenderness (098) and juiciness (095) (Table 7).

Discussion
Ultimate pH, muscle colour and total pigment concentration The average ultimate pH values for longissimus muscles ranged between 57 and 62. These pH values increased as animals were slaughtered at heavier weights. Even though this upper range was relatively high, most of these muscle ultimate pHs were similar to previously published values on young goats (pH 60) (Dhanda et al., 1999b; Husain et al., 2000b). Many factors can affect muscle ultimate pH including the treatment or condition of animals immediately prior to slaughter (Apple et al., 1995). A high ultimate pH (above 58) generally lowers the quality of the meat (Lawrie, 1991; Ranken, 2000). As the ultimate pH values were not greatly different between each slaughter weight studied, Boer bucks, either entire or castrated when slaughtered at heavier live weights, up to 75 kg, are not inferior, in terms of ultimate pH, to those slaughtered at lighter live weights. Muscle colour became darker red, a* values increased from muscles taken from animals slaughtered at above 30 kg and L* values decreased as the animals got older and reached heavier slaughter weights. These results conrm the study by Dhanda et al. (1999b) who reported that the colour of the longissimus muscle became darker red with age, as muscle pigment concentration increased and this

Flavour Tenderness Juiciness 72a 70a 68ab 65abc 60bcd 59cd 54d 02 78a 74b 69c 65d 60e 56f 51g 01 72a 69b 66c 63d 60e 57f 54g 003

Overall acceptability 74ab 72a 69b 66bc 63cd 60de 56e 01

Means, within each column, with different superscripts differ (P < 005). Scoring criteria, 1: dislike extremely; 9: like extremely.

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Werdi Pratiwi, Murray and Taylor 45 kg slaughter weight, were generally above 73 N which is equal to 6 kg/cm2. As stated by Shackelford et al. (1991) meat tested for shear force with values exceeding 55 kg/cm2 is considered to be tough by consumers, therefore it is likely that meat from older and heavier Boer bucks will be valued less by consumers. All predicted eating quality scores were lower for cooked meat samples taken from carcasses of animals slaughtered at heavier slaughter weights. This result is similar to that reported by Dhanda et al. (1999b) where panel scores were lower for samples taken from older animals. Flavour scores were lower for the meat samples taken from entire Boers, than for meat samples taken from their castrated counterparts at equal slaughter weight, which indicates that the goaty avour from entire animals (Sheridan et al., 2003) may have affected the panellists preference. Panellists gave lower scores for tenderness and juiciness for cooked meat from older animals. This may be associated with the development of muscle bres in adult animals. As animals reach heavier slaughter weights, they have more intramuscular fat, and their muscle bre diameters usually increase and both of these are known to decrease meat tenderness (Cross, 1973; Seidemen, 1986). Overall, the scores for all eating quality proles were negatively correlated with slaughter weight and castrated Boers produced meat that had higher scores for avour, tenderness and overall acceptability than their entire counterparts, indicating that meat from castrated and lighter slaughter weight animals had higher ratings and were preferred more than entire animals or animals slaughtered at heavier live weights. Conclusion This study has shown that slaughter weight greatly inuenced L*, a*, b* values and subjective meat colour scores of Boer bucks. Subjective fat colour scores increased gradually with the increase of slaughter weight for both entire and castrated goats. Muscle pigment concentrations increased as animals reached heavier slaughter weights. Muscle toughness increased with slaughter weight. Flavour was the most important attribute that contributed to overall acceptability of the goat meat as measured by predicted eating quality scores. In general, castrated and entire Boer bucks, across the range of slaughter weights studied, produced meat of different characteristics, and castration of goats improved the quality of meat.

Table 7 Pearson correlation coefficients among measures of predicted eating quality of cooked meat from longissimus muscles from Boer bucks Overall Slaughter Tenderness Juiciness acceptability weight Flavour 097** Tenderness Juiciness Overall acceptability 093** 099** 099** 098** 095** 095** 099** 099** 097**

was also observed by Kannan et al. (2001). In the present study, muscle redness (a* values) and subjective muscle colour scores were positively correlated with muscle pigment concentrations, meaning that muscle from heavier Boer bucks contain higher pigment concentration than lighter animals. Muscle colour is greatly inuenced by the concentration and chemical nature of haemoprotein present in the muscle (Ledward, 1992). The darker red muscle that results from Boer bucks being slaughtered at heavier live weights might be preferred less by consumers, as meat colour is used to judge visual meat quality. Fat colour Subjective fat colour scores increased gradually with the increase in slaughter weights for both entire and castrated Boer bucks studied. A signicant effect of age on subcutaneous fat colour in goats had been reported previously by Rao et al. (1988) and Dhanda et al. (1999b). This may be due to an increase in the amount of subcutaneous fat on carcasses at heavier slaughter weights. Particularly, in the present investigation, animals that were slaughtered at heavier weights produced more fat cover compared with animals slaughtered at lighter weights. Since fat colour inuences consumer acceptability, with white fat colour preferred (Priolo et al., 2002), it could be concluded that entire and castrated Boer bucks at lighter slaughter weights which produce whiter subcutaneous fat, would have a better visual appearance and be preferred. Shear force value and eating quality proles Shear force values did not change signicantly between slaughter weights (except between 5 and 15 kg for entire animals) and between sex types, but the values were higher for the heavier and older Boer bucks that were studied. This is similar to the results previously reported by Dhanda et al. (1999b) on goats, where younger animals had meat that was with less tough than meat from older animals (29 to 38 and 43 to 46 kg/cm2 for capretto and chevon meat respectively). The shear force values observed from muscles taken from Boer bucks at or above

Acknowledgements
We thank the Boer Goat Breeders Association of Australia for partial nancial support for this research and Mr. A. T.

Slaughter weight, castration and meat quality of Boer goats

Lisle, School of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Queensland, for statistical assistance. N. M. Werdi Pratiwi gratefully acknowledges an AusAid Australian Development scholarship.

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