Factors influencing the flavour of the meat derived fromSouth African game species

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa, wild and free-living animal species that are dependent on the natural vegetation present in their habitat as food source, are referred to as 'game species'. Game species are utilised for live animal sales, trophy hunting, non-trophy recreational hunting and game meat production. The latter is of economic importance, as the export of game meat is a very lucrative industry for South Africa. However, only small quantities of fresh game meat is sold locally in South Africa, which is attributable to a lack of scientific information on the chemical composition and sensory quality of game meat that is required to enable proper marketing of game meat products.Game meat is derived from female and male animals of various species, located throughout southern Africa. However, differences in the dietary regimes of game species between farm locations, in addition to species and gender differences could influence the composition and sensory quality of game meat. Differences in the fatty acid content and volatile compound profile could influence the aroma and flavour of meat, yet no research exists that has established the volatile compound profile of South African game meat.The volatile compound profile of the longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle of commonly consumed game species (springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis; blesbok, Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi; gemsbok, Oryx gazella; impala, Aepyceros melampus; red hartebeest, Alcelaphus caama; and kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros) from various farm locations was mainly lipid-derived, containing compounds such as aldehydes, alcohols and 2-pentylfuran. Farm location and gender had a significant influence on the fatty acid content and volatile compound profile of springbok and blesbok meat. Furthermore, the fatty acid content and volatile compound profile of game meat differed significantly between the six species, while gender differences were more species-specific.Descriptive sensory analysis was used to establish the sensory profile of game meat in this study. The latter, in addition to physical measurements (thaw and cooking loss percentage, ultimate pH and Warner-Bratzler shear force) and the proximate composition (moisture, protein, intramuscular lipid and ash) were used to establish the sensory quality of game meat derived from different farm locations, species and genders. Farm location had a significant influence on the sensory quality of springbok meat, while this was not evident for blesbok meat. Selected physical, proximate and sensory attributes differed significantly between the six game species, however, when conducting multivariate analyses using all of the sensory attributes as variables it is clear that springbok meat illustrated a prominent gamey sensory profile and thus associated with a different set of sensory attributes than the other five game species. This study also indicated that gender differences in the sensory quality of game meat are more species-specific.It is therefore recommended that the meat industry should take farm location (for springbok and not blesbok) and species into account during the marketing of game meat. As the influence of gender on the sensory profile of the game meat from the selected species in this study was of minor importance, it is recommended that this factor not be considered during the marketing of game meat derived from these six game species. However, the magnitude of the influence of species and gender on the sensory quality of game meat could change when other factors such as season and farm location come into play

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University