Effect of dietary tea catechins supplementation in goats on the quality of meat kept under refrigeration

Liuyang black male goats were used to examine the effects of TC inclusion on lipid oxidation and fresh meat quality of goats. Forty goats were randomly divided into four equal groups (ten animals in each group) and assigned to four experiment diets with TC supplementation at four levels (0, 2000, 3000 and 4000 mg TC/kg feed). After 60 days of feeding period, all goats were slaughtered and sampled. The results showed that dietary TC supplementation had significant (P < 0.05) effect on plasma total antioxidant status (TAS) at days 40 and 60, lipid oxidation of M. longissimus dorsi (LD), gluteus medius (GM) and semimemberanosus (SM), pH value of GM and SM at 24 h postmortem, intramuscular fat (IMF) of SM, drip loss percentage of GM and SM, and total haem pigment content (THP) of LD and SM. In conclusion, suitable dietary TC level could inhibit lipid oxidation, decrease drip loss of fresh meat and improve meat colour stability in goat, moreover, dietary TC inclusion influences muscle pH values and IMF at some degree, but different muscle types showed different trend to change, and the quality of LD was relatively stable according to overall evaluation.