Meat colour differences between Alpine, Balkan and Serbian white goat breeds slaughtered at 18 kg of body weight

Meat colour was evaluated in 36 goat kids of both genders equally from three breeds: Alpine, Balkan and Serbian white breed. Animals were slaughtered at 18 kg of body weight and three muscles were analysed for colour characteristics and pH value: m. longissimus lumborum, m. psoas major (tenderloin) and m. semimembranosus. pH values differ significantly only for m. longissimus lumborum muscle, whereas Balkan kids had a significantly higher pH value than Alpine and Serbian white (p<0.001). The goat breed significantly affected meat CIEL*a*b* values for all muscles analysed. Lightness (L*) was generally the highest for Balkan and lowest for the Alpine breed. The differences in redness (a*) and Chroma values (C*) were not significant, while the yellowness only differed for m. longissimus lumborum muscle, whereas Serbian white kids had higher b* values compared to Alpine kids. As a colour saturation characteristic, the hue angle was higher in meat from indigenous breeds (Balkan and Serbian white) than in the Alpine breed.