The per caput supplies of goat meat over the last 20 years are decreasing consistently in all regions of the developing world. A widening gap between production and consumption has resulted in increased prices. The chemical composition of goat meat is as follows: moisture, 74.2-76.0%; protein, 20.6-22.3%; fat 0.6-2.6%; ash, 1.1%. Goat meat appears to contain more arginine, leucine, and isoleucine than mutton and is adequate in all the essential amino acids. Goat meat also has a relatively lower fat content because the tissue is more concentrated in the viscera. The fatty acid composition of subcutaneous, kidney, and intermuscular fat depots appears to be similar to that of sheep, except that goats tended to have more oleic acid in their fat depots. The implication of this feature is an increased value of the purchased product (lean meat). The Ca content of goat meat is inferior to that of beef. Goat meat has higher thiamine and riboflavin contents in the liver, but niacin was lower than that in beef. Management factors affect the proximate composition of the meat and the eating quality, especially tenderness, flavour, and juiciness. Castration tends to increase the fat content of the meat. Toughness of the meat is related to age at marketing, collagen content and solubility, size of muscle fibres, and muscle contraction.
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