19 - Improving the meat quality of venison and other exotic game

Abstract

The effect of various external factors on the sensory quality of venison and game meat is reviewed. As cervid species and wild boar have been domesticated and farmed for a number of years, there are more data available on these effects than there are for the wild free-roaming African game species. Most of these effects are similar in magnitude to that experienced in the traditionally farmed monogastric animals and ruminants, e.g. change in fatty acid profiles to reflect that of the diet in monogastrics. With the farmed species, greater control over the transport, lairage and stunning/slaughter processes is possible, resulting in more uniform practices being developed that ultimately lead to a more consistent meat quality. However, with the wild game species this is not the case and research has focused on finding methodologies that best control the harvesting of the various species. Various value-added techniques used in the traditional red meat processing have been adapted and are used successfully in these wild species.