EFFECT OF DIETARY SELENIUM YEAST SUPPLEMENTATION ON PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GOAT MEAT

Abstract

The current study assessed the influence of selenium yeast (SeY) on some physico-chemical characteristics of goat meat. A total of ten cross- bred goats of 4 months age and 10.5 kg body weight were assigned into two groups, viz. Control and SeY (n=5 each group) and provided only basal diet (control) or basal diet supplemented with SeY at the dose of 0.3 mg/kg feed. The experiment lasted for eight weeks. The results revealed that physical characteristics of meat were not different (P> 0.05) between the groups; however, the meat pH decreased by 0.15 units and the cooking and drip losses were reduced by approximately 11 and 13.5 % in SeY goats as compared to control. The determination of chemical characteristics showed no significant changes (P> 0.05) in the moisture, protein and ash contents, however, the fat content of meat tended to increase (P< 0.097) by 37.5% in SeY compared to that in control. In conclusion, the results of present study showed that most of the physico-chemical properties of meat were not significantly different between the two groups except for fat content which tended to increase in SeY goats compared to control. The increase in fat content was associated with slight decrease in some physical characteristics such as pH, water holding capacity and cooking loss of meat in SeY goats, which suggest that SeY supplementation in the diet of goats slightly improved physico-chemical properties of meat.

Keywords

• goat
• meat
• selenium
• selenium yeast