Effects of age and sex on meat quality of Turkish native geese raised under a free-range system [Serbest Çiftlik Koşullari{dotless}nda Yetiştirilen Türk Yerli Kazlari{dotless}nda Cinsiyet ve Yaşi{dotless}n Et Kalitesi Üzerine Etkisi]

This study was conducted to determine the effects of sex and age on meat quality characteristics of turkish native geese raised under a free-range system. the range of least squares means for age and sex subgroups in terms of ultimate ph,water holding capacity (whc),drip loss (dl),cooking loss (cl) and warner-bratzler shear force (sf) were 5.74-5.88,8.99-9.69%,3.36-3.63%,27.67-29.97% and 3.15-3.38 kg/cm2,respectively. least squares means for colour characteristics of breast skin were 61.97-62.60 for lightness (l*),5.11-5.84 for redness (a*) and 11.18-12.26 for yellowness (b*) according to age and sex groups. colour variables of breast meat were 40.15-40.59 for l*,12.30-13.61 for a* and 0.83-1.16 for b* parameters. while the effect of age on breast meat quality characteristics were not significant (p>0.05),sex affected on ultimate ph and a* parameter significantly (p<0.05). least squares means for age and sex subgroups in terms of ultimate ph,whc and dl of thigh meat were 5.96-6.04,5.97-6.90% and 2.51-2.68%,respectively. l*,a* and b* values for thigh skin were 62.57-63.16,4.25-4.83 and 7.67-9.43,and also were 43.72-44.20,9.79-10.38 and 0.84-1.23 for thigh meat. the effect of sex on yellowness of thigh skin was significant (p<0.05),but both sex and age did not affect on meat quality characteristics of thigh meat (p>0.05).