The Effect of Origin, Sex and Feeding on Sensory Evaluation and Some Quality Characteristics of Goose Meat from Polish Native Flocks

The aim of the study was to characterize the sensory quality and physical traits of raw and heattreated meat depending on the origin, sex and feeding of geese. The experiment used meat from domestic geese of southern varieties: Lubelska (Lu), Kielecka (Ki) and Subcarpatian (Sb), included in the conservation programme. The experiment was carried out on a total of 192 birds divided according to origin (Lu, Ki and Sb), sex (M and F) and dietary treatment (DI – conventional feeding and DI – oat fattening). To evaluate the quality characteristics of meat, 16 birds from each group were selected. Sensory evaluation of raw goose muscles was at a good level of consumer acceptability and exceeded 4.0 points, ranging from 4.18 pts (appearance/Ki) to 4.59 pts (aroma/Sb) for breast muscles (BM), and from 4.17 pts (fatness/Lu) to 4.53 pts (aroma/Sb) for leg muscles (LM). In the case of heat-treated muscles the tenderness of the muscles of Lu geese was characterized by high number grade (P≤0.05) for both the BM (4.87 pts) and LM (4.76 pts). Lighter colour (L*) (P≤0.05) was characteristic of the muscles of oat-fattened birds (44.25 for BM and 49.86 for LM) compared to the muscles of conventionally fed birds (39.77 for BM and 46.89 for LM). In addition, a significant (P≤0.05) effect of diet was also found on the value of the parameter a* (redness) and b* (yellowness). Parameter a* ranged from 10.45 (Lu) to 11.96 (Ki) for BM and from 13.28 (Ki) to 14.21 (Sb) for LM. In turn, the highest share (P≤0.05) of yellow colour (parameter b*) was demonstrated in the muscles of Ki geese – 4.87 for BM and 10.92 for LM. Male muscles were characterized by higher (26.34 mg% – BM and 24.37 mg% – LM) water holding capacity (WHC) than female muscles (27.23 mg% for BM and 25.28 mg% for LM respectively). Furthermore for BM of oat-fattened geese cooking loss was at the level of 10.50%. The present study indicated that most of the sensory characteristics of meat (BM and LM) from geese of different breeds were affected (significantly at P≤0.05) by the diet. This concerned both raw and heat-treated meat. For raw breast muscles, a significant (P≤0.05) effect of sex was also found (with the exception of aroma). In turn, the quality characteristics of raw leg muscles (except for colour) were influenced (P≤0.05) by all the treatment factors. Analysis of the physical properties of meat showed that these parameters are mainly affected (P≤0.05) by the diet.