Traits of carcass and its chemical composition and lipid characteristics of Japanese deer [Cervus nippon]

Three castrated male and three female Japanese deer, that were raised from birth at our college, were sloughtered. Carcass quality (live,carcass, trimmed meat, fat and bone weights), chemical composition (pH, moisture, crude protein, crude fat and crude ash) of the edible portions, the melting point and fatty acids composition of dressed meat (fillet, loin, shoulder, belly, rump, liver and heart) lipid and depot fats (perirenal, omental, intermuscular and subcutaneous) were determined. Mean live weight of castrated male deer (27 months of age) and female deer (26months of age) were about 66 kg and 50 kg, respectively. Carcass weights were 42 kg for castrated males and 30 kg for females in average. Live and carcass weights differed significantly, but he percentage of the dressed carcass was over 60% and trimmed meat percentage over 64%. The trimmed meat weight of the rump showed the highest ratio, approximately 30%. The pH value of dressed meat ranged from 5.56 to 576 and there were slight differences in various portions, but no difference between males and females. The moisture content was over 70%, except for belly meat and there was no difference among portions. The crude protein was approximately 20%, which was similar to the other livestock species. Crude fat was 2-5%, except for belly meat. Crude ash was 1.1-1.3%. The melting point of fats differed by portion from 39-42 degrees C, while that of the depot fats, was 45-51 degrees C. The melting point of meat fat was lower than that of depot fats, and that of castrated male deer was higher than that of female. The percentages of palmitic, stearic, oleic and linolenic acid were significant by different in each portion. The percentage of unsaturated fatty acid was greater in the outer portion (subcutaneous fat) than in the inner portion (perirenal fat) of the body. Stearic acid was higher while oleic acid was lower in the inner portions of the body