Manipulating nutrition for ideal carcass and meat quality parameters in goat and sheep production

Abstract

Nutrition is an important component of the goat and sheep meat production systems and plays a vital role in promoting ideal carcass characteristics and meat quality properties. Goats and sheep diets can impact not merely growth performance but as well as carcass and meat properties that are acceptable to modern day consumers who have become sensitive to the quality of meat and meat products. Of significance, dietary composition can be manipulated towards acquiring desirable dressing percentage, carcass characteristics and meat quality properties in goats and sheep. It cannot be overemphasized that dressing percentage and meat yield directly respond to optimal dietary regime as a result manipulation of dietary constituencies especially energy and protein have been designed to produce acceptable carcass and meat properties. However, the existence of interactions of nutrition with other non-genetic factors in influencing carcass traits and meat quality properties in goats and sheep, cannot be overlooked. Apart from dietary composition influencing carcass yield and meat quality properties, overall dietary impact appears to vary with sex of animal, age and weight at slaughter. Optimal plane of nutrition will enhance goat and sheep performance, while inadequate dietary protein, energy, minerals and vitamins proportions have been interrelated to negative impact on carcass parameters and meat quality properties. It is important that the nutritional constituents be accurately balanced in order to attain optimum dressing percentage, carcass yield and meat quality properties. Feed resources of every description have been fed for their nutritional value with different responses on their influence on carcass parameters and meat quality properties. Therefore, there are conspicuous differences of ration formulas on their impact on dressing percentage, carcass parameters, and meat quality properties. A balanced dietary composition become predictable critical component of which can impose a positive influence on carcass traits and meat quality properties. In order to get maximum response for carcass portions as a result of prescribed nutritional regime, animal should be slaughtered at an appropriate age and weight, and also sex to slaughter might need to be considered. The present review gives an insight of the impact of nutrition on dressing percentage, carcass characteristics and meat quality properties in goats and sheep.