Effects of Different Levels of Concentrate in the Diet on Physicochemical Traits of Korean Native Black Goat Meats

The effects of feeding of diets based on roughage supplemented with concentrate on the carcass and meat quality attributes of Korean black goats were investigated. The 40 male goats at 5 mon age were divided into four treatment groups; T1 (1.5%), T2 (2.0%), T3 (2.5%) and T4 (ad libitum) feeding of concentrate with ad libitum rice straw. Forty bucks at the end of the feeding were fasted for 12 h before slaughter and were then slaughtered. For carcass measurement, cold buck carcasses were examined after 24 h of chilling at 5°C. The carcasses were chilled in refrigerator at 2±2°C for 24 h, then the longissimus dorsi muscle was removed from the carcasses. The samples were separately vacuum packaged, frozen and stored at -20°C for up to 1 mon, prior to physicochemical evaluations. Carcass yields were greatly affected by rate of concentrate feeding. T4 showed the heaviest live and carcass weights and the highest dressing and fat percentages (p<0.05). The moisture contents were lower in T4 compared with other treatments, while the crude protein and fat contents were higher (p<0.05). monounsaturated fatty acid in T4 was significantly higher than others, which showed the highest percentages of oleic acid (C18:1). For the sensory test, T4 was tenderer and produced better flavor scores than others. Increasing the level of concentrate in the diet resulted in an improvement in growth performance, and carcass and physicochemical characteristics of goat meats.