Chemical Composition and Amino Acid Profile of Goose Meat (Ukrainian Large Gray and Large White Breeds) in Semi-Intensive System of Growing

Abstract

Large gray and Large white geese breeds were created in Ukraine and are widespread. At the same time, the nutritional value of their meat is insufficiently studied. Therefore, this work aimed to study and compare the chemical composition and amino acid profile of the muscles of the chest and thighs of geese of these breeds in semi-intensive growing. The study used 20 heads of geese of both sexes of the Large gray and Large white breeds, which were raised under similar housing and feeding conditions. Muscle samples were analyzed following current regulations in Ukraine, harmonized with relevant international standards. Studies have shown no significant differences in the muscle content of males and females of these breeds in terms of moisture, protein and ash, but a more significant difference in fat content was observed. In the thighs of females of Large gray geese fat content was higher than in the thighs of males of this breed by 0.29% (P<0.05). At the same time, in females of the Large white breed, on the contrary, higher fat content than in males (by 0.27%) was observed in the chest muscles (P<0.05). The chest muscles of both males and females of both breeds had more moisture and more crude protein than the thigh muscles. In contrast, the thigh muscles had a higher fat content (P<0.05). As for protein, the muscles of the chest and thighs contained all the essential amino acids. However, the amino acid profile of male and female proteins of the same type in different muscle types, both within one breed and between breeds, differed slightly in the content of some amino acids, with the statistically reliable (P<0.05) difference in some of them. Comparison of the amino acid profile of chest and thigh muscle proteins of both breeds of geese with the reference protein (FAO/WHO, 2013), showed that the muscle protein of geese of Large gray and Large white breeds contains a sufficient amount of all essential amino acids. The essential amino acid indices of the chest and thigh muscle proteins were similar for both breeds and were approximately 1.8-fold higher than the reference protein index. These data indicate the high nutritional value of meat of both goose breeds and the feasibility of their further use for meat production in Ukraine.