The influence of age at slaughter and litter size on some quality traits of kid meat

To study variations in the carcass characteristics of Girgentana kids slaughtered at 25 or 35 days of age and litter size (single or twin), 27 male kids were slaughtered and body components, carcass joints, pelvic limb tissue composition, meat fatty acid composition and M. longissimus dorsi (LD) colour were evaluated. Girgentana kids slaughtered at 35 days had greater live weights (6.4 kg versus 5.0 kg; P less than or equal to 0.01), carcass weights (4.5 kg versus 3.6 kg; P less than or equal to 0.01), muscle contents (57.6% versus 54.9%; P less than or equal to 0.01) but similar dressing percentages (70.1% versus 70.6%) as compared to kids slaughtered at 25 days. Twin kids had a higher muscle percentage (57.3% versus 55.2%; P less than or equal to 0.05) and similar fat percentage (5.5% versus 6.0%) but a higher unsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio (1.17 versus 1.01; P less than or equal to 0.05). Meat colour was not influenced by any factors considered. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.