Effect of pre-slaughter weight on carcass traits and organoleptic characterstics of Kanni goats

Carcass traits and organoleptic characteristics of Kanni goats of Tamil Nadu were studied. Twelve goats were equally divided into two groups based on its pre-slaughter weight as Gr-I with the pre-slaughter weight from 12 to 15 kg and Gr-II between >15 and 18 kg. The mean carcass length (cm), gigot length (cm), gigot width (cm), and carcass compactness in Gr-II (57.00±0.37, 37.17±1.28, 15.00±0.52, and 0.14±0.002) were significantly (P<0.01) higher than Gr-I (53.17±0.60, 32.83±0.83, 12.83±0.60 and 0.12±0.004). Between the groups, there was no significant difference in the gigot conformation, edible offals, pH, colour and its primal cuts viz. neck and shoulder, breast and fore shank, rack, loin and leg. The organoleptic evaluation scores viz., colour, appearance, flavour, juiciness and overall acceptability did not show any significant difference between the groups. However, tenderness scores showed significant (P<0.05) difference between the two weight groups. The results indicate that the carcass length, gigot length, gigot width carcass compactness and tender scores of Kanni goats increased as the pre-slaughter weight increased from 12 to 18 kg. Hence slaughtering Kanni goats between 15 and 18 kg live weights willyieldhigherconformation andmoretendermeatthanlesser body weight group.