Quality of Meat from Female Fallow Deer (Dama Dama) and Roe Deer (Capreolus Capreolus) Hunted in Serbia

Abstract

Deer meat is a high quality and valuable food for human consumption. It has high nutritive value because of its high protein and heme iron content, and low levels of fats and saturated fatty acids. The aim of this study was to examine the quality parameters of meat from fallow deer and roe deer that were hunted in Serbia. Parameters studied were live weight, carcass weight, chemical composition of meat, color, fatty acid content of meat, volatile compounds, and sensory characteristics. The results obtained show no significant difference in the chemical composition of these two species of deer meat, but there were differences regarding fatty acid content, volatile compounds, color and sensory properties of meat. The ratios of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids in the deer meat ranged from 0.387 to 0.556. The results suggest that deer species has a significant impact on the fatty acid profile and content of volatile compounds of deer meat.

Fatty Acids and Nutraceutical Properties of Lipids in Fallow Deer (Dama dama) Meat Produced in Organic and Conventional Farming Systems

“…In turn, Revilla et al [61] reported a higher concentration of SFA in the meat of cattle reared in the organic system compared with the conventional farming system. C16:0 and C18:0 acids are the dominant SFAs in red meat [23,24,52], which was demonstrated in the present study as well. No effect of stearic acid C18:0 on total cholesterol levels has been reported.…”

“…Foods in the human diet with a PUFA/SFA ratio below 0.45 are regarded as undesirable due to their potential effect of increasing blood cholesterol levels [82]. In the present study, the PUFA/SFA ratio in the meat of the conventionally reared fallow deer was similar to the value reported by Ivanović et al [24] for the musculus longissimus thoracis (LT) of fallow deer from Serbia. In turn, the ratio in the muscles of the organically farmed animals was higher than the value in meat from farmed and wild fallow deer (0.27) calculated by Daszkiewicz [52] and in beef and lamb muscles (0.11-0.37) [44].…”

“…Similar SFA levels to the values reported in the present study were shown by Daszkiewicz et al [54] in a wild population of fallow deer from northeastern Poland and by Bures et al [66] for LL of fallow deer from the Czech Republic. A higher level was reported by Daszkiewicz et al [54] in muscles from a farm-raised population and Ivanović et al [24] in LT muscles of fallow deer from Serbia.…”

“…Compared with other cervid species, fallow deer meat is regarded as a healthier product due to the higher content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) [17]. It is high in protein, heme iron, copper, zinc, and potassium and low in saturated fatty acids [17,18,[22][23][24][25]. The meat of cervids is also a good source of nutritionally important conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) [25].…”

Consumers’ Perception and Preference for the Consumption of Wild Game Meat among Adults in Poland

“…Despite the numerous advantages of wild game (nutritional, taste, health), its consumption in many countries in Europe, including Poland, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, is low. In recent years, it was from 0.2 to 1.1 kg/person/year [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], but only 2–4% of the population consumed this type of meat regularly [ 33 ]. Greater consumption was found among hunters and their families [ 34 , 35 ].…”