Abstract:
This study investigated the differences in meat quality, nutritional composition, and myofibrillar protein (MP) characteristics of Wanxi White geese across different ages (120, 180, and 365 days old), different muscle parts (breast and leg muscles), and different genders. The results showed that with increasing age, shear force significantly increased (reaching 46.5 N in 365-day-old leg muscle,
P<0.05), while meat color lightness (L) and redness (a) values increased, and tenderness, protein, and fat content showed a decreasing trend. Leg muscles exhibited significantly higher water-holding capacity (up to 76.74%) and pH values than breast muscles (
P<0.05). Meat from male geese showed better lightness but lower water-holding capacity compared to females. Nutritional analysis revealed that the total free amino acid content peaked at 120 days old (alanine: 235.24 µg/g, glutamic acid: 141.62 µg/g), with umami amino acids being prominent. Fatty acid composition was dominated by monounsaturated fatty acids (up to 53.38%), and the polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio (PUFA/SFA) ranged from 0.47 to 0.53. The 120-day-old geese exhibited the highest unsaturated fatty acid content and superior nutritional value. Regarding MP functional properties, increasing age significantly enhanced MP concentration, surface hydrophobicity (up to 48.65 µg/g), gel water retention (89.03%), and emulsifying activity (0.067 m
2/mg,
P<0.05). Solubility peaked at 180 days old (45.74%) before declining. Leg muscle MP demonstrated significantly superior gel hardness (9159.7 N) and emulsifying stability (18.31) compared to breast muscle MP (
P<0.05). MP from male geese had higher surface hydrophobicity but lower gel strength and emulsifying activity than females (
P<0.05). These findings provide a theoretical basis for assessing the processing suitability of Wanxi White geese meat and developing differentiated products.