Fatty acid composition and sensory quality of Musculus longissimus and carcass parameters in red deer (Cervus elaphus) grazed on natural pasture or fed a commercial feed mixture

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Abstract
The effects of feeding regimen on carcass characteristics, fatty acid composition and sensory quality of Musculus longissimus were studied in 16 male red deer. All animals were farm raised; eight were grazed on pasture and eight were fed a pelleted commercial feed mixture for 10 weeks prior to slaughter. The pellet‐fed deer had a significantly higher dressing percentage than the pasture group. No differences were found in ultimate pH values and muscle glycogen content when comparing the treatment groups. Polar and neutral lipid fatty acid composition of the meat were analysed separately. Meat from pasture‐fed deer showed a high content of the fatty acid 18 : 3 n‐3 in the polar lipid fraction. In the same lipid fraction, the fatty acid 18 : 2 n‐6 was dominant in meat from the pellet fed animals. Similar differences in the neutral lipid fraction were found when comparing fatty acid composition between treatment groups; however, the abundance of these fatty acids was much less. A trained expert panel using a descriptive test assessed the sensory profile of the meat. There was a significant difference between the two treatment groups for the sensory attribute of grassy flavour, with the pellet‐fed animals having less grassy flavour than the animals grazing pasture. It was concluded that further research is needed to explore the effects of various feeding regimens applied to deer on parameters associated with meat lipids, including antioxidants and oxidation products. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry

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