A new study published in the journal Meat Science has found that  feeding goats hempseed cake instead of soy results in significant improvements in the overall quality of the goat’s meat.

For the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases and Stellenbosch University’s Department of Animal Sciences, wether goats were fed finishing diets containing either 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100 g/kg DM of hempseed cake (HSC) substituting soybean meal to evaluate chevon fatty acid, volatile and oxidative profiles.

“Feeding HSC diets linearly decreased chevon c9–16:1, 16:0, total saturated FA (SFA) and protein oxidation but linearly increased t9–18:1, t11–18:1, conjugated linoleic acids, n-3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), individual long-chain n-6 PUFA and antioxidant activity”, states the study.

On day 1 and 7 of retail display, diets containing 75 and 100 g/kg DM HSC had greater TBARS [thiobarbituric acid reactive substances] than the other diet. The addition of HSC to the diet “increased and preserved chevon contents of hexanal and methyl caprate throughout the retail display period.”

“Overall, feeding HSC up to 100 g/kg DM enhances chevon profiles of healthful PUFA, desirable flavor volatiles and protein shelf-stability”, the study concludes.

The full text of this study can be found by clicking here.