Abstract:

The objective of this study was to investigate the slaughter performance， meat quality and organ size indices of Liuyang black goats fed co-fermented whole plant rice and spent mushroom （Pleurotus ostreatus） substrate （SMS）. Eighteen healthy Liuyang black goats were first allocated to 9 pairs of the same sex and similar body weight （15.53±2.22） kg， and then randomly divided into two treatment groups， Trial and Control. Finally the two treatment groups were each subdivided into 3 replicates of 3 goats， with 2 females and 1 male in each replicate treatment group. The Trial group were fed 65% refined feed+35% whole plant rice co-fermented with SMS， while the Control group were fed 65% refined feed+35% whole plant maize silage. Following 10 days for diet adaptation， the trial itself lasted 60 d. Results revealed that water loss rate， muscle fiber area and spleen index in the Trial group were， respectively， 18.27%， 11.24% and 27.78% lower （P<0.05） than those in the Control group， whereas pH_24h， cooked meat rate and muscle fiber density in the Trial group were， respectively， 10.53%， 5.29% and 9.28% higher （P<0.05） than those in the Control group. Other indicators， including slaughter weight， carcass weight， dressing percentage， loin muscle area， GR value， pH_45min， lightness， redness， yellowness， shear force， muscle fiber diameter， and heart， liver， lung and kidney weight indices did not differ statistically between the Trial and Control groups. The reason for the decrease in spleen index remains to be explored. In conclusion， feeding co-fermented whole plant rice and SMS had no adverse effect on the slaughter performance of Liuyang black goats and the meat quality was improved， compared with the treatment group fed whole-plant corn silage.

Key words: fermented whole plant rice, spent mushroom substrate, whole-plant maize silage, Liuyang black goat, slaughter performance, meat quality, organ size index