Evaluation of meat quality traits of male and female guinea fowl

Abstract

The meat quality traits which include the organoleptic traits and proximate composition of male and female guinea fowl were evaluated at the poultry unit of Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko Nigeria. Male and female guinea fowls were raised under the same management condition for twelve weeks and slaughtered. They were properly bled and dressed. Proximate analysis was carried out on the meat samples. Cooked samples were evaluated on a 7-point scale for the organoleptic traits. Data obtained was subjected to analysis of variance (SAS, 2010) Analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in the crude protein of male and female guinea fowl. However, male guinea fowl had significantly (p<0.05) higher moisture content, ash content and nitrogen free extract ( 6.98 ± 0.16%, 2.98 ± 0.09 % and 40.62 ± 4.70% respectively) compared with female guinea fowl (6.51± 0.28% , 2.41 ± 0.28% and 32.58 ± 0.80% respectively). Meat from female guinea fowl had significantly (p><0.05) higher fat content (24.18 ± 2.19%) compared with male guinea fowl ( 20.36 ±1.2%). The effect of sex of guinea fowl was not significant (p>0.05) on the meat colour in this study. Meat from male and female guinea fowl have similar value for colour. However, male guinea fowl meat were ranked better for taste, flavour, and overall acceptability while the meat from female guinea fowl had better ranking for juiciness and tenderness. In conclusion, sexual dimorphism exist in meat quality traits of guinea fowl.