SENSORY CHARACTERISTCS OF MEAT FROM RED SOKOTO GOATS FED DIFFERENT FORMS OF NEEM (Azardirachta indica) LEAVES AND A CONCENTRATE DIET

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at the Small Ruminants Unit of the Teaching and Research Farm, Federal University of Kashere.Gombe State,Nigeria. Sixteen red sokoto goats (bucks)with initial weight range of 6.80 - 7.20 kg, were allotted into four (4 ) treatments of four goats each. The goats were fed fresh neem leaves, neem leaf hay, neem leaf meal and neem leaf silage at 300g/goat/day for treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively; and concentrate diet at 125g/goat/day for a duration of sixty three (63) days. Water was served ad-libitum. The experimental design was a completely randomized design; data were analyzed using a one way analysis of variance. The significant means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD) contained in SAS 9.4 ,2018 edition statistical package. The concentrate and the neem leaves were analyzed for their proximate composition and fibre fractions using the methods of AOAC 2000At the end of the feeding period3 goats from each treatment were slaughtered ,bled and dressed and thereafter the meat used for the evaluation of their sensory properties.all the sensory parameters values were not significantly(P<0.05) different,values for juiciness ,palatability and overall meat quality ranged from 3.65- 3.75, 3.70 – 3.80 and 17.55 – 17.70 respectively. It was concluded that .treatment/processing of neem leaves had no significant effect on the sensory properties of the meat of red Sokoto goats, further research using other breeds of goats as well as other species of ruminants was recommended.