Physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of goats reared on organic rationing in Karakoram region

Abstract

Goat meat is consumed all over the world because of its nutritional profile and delicacy. It is produced in all areas of Pakistan but the meat produced in the Karakoram region of the Pakistan is mostly organic and the animals are fed on the natural vegetation having nutrition benefits for humans. In current study, goats were reared on the different systems having natural flora of alfalfa and grass hey (MS I) sea buckthorn (MS II), Russian Olive (MS III) and the mix ration of sea buckthorn and Russian olive (MS IV). The animals were reared for 6 months and after slaughtering evaluated for fatty acids, physiochemical, microbiological and the sensory evaluation of the smoked meat. It has been observed that the meat has microbiological quality on acceptable degrees, fatty acid profile of the meat was best for MS IV, mineral and sensory characteristics, color and physical properties for all treatments remained non-significant. The basic choice for health-conscious consumer is on the profile of fatty acids in the meat so on the basis of data it could be suggested that the meat fed on the sea buck thorn and Russian olive is best among all treatments.