Carcass characteristics, composition, physico-chemical, microbial and sensory quality of emu meat

1. In order to investigate whether emu meat is a potential red meat alternative, this work was carried out with the objective of studying the carcass characteristics, proximate composition, physico-chemical and microbial characteristics and sensory attributes of emu meat. 2. Carcass characteristics clearly indicate that emus are a significant source of lean meat, fat, skin and edible by-products and these findings confirm earlier reports. 3. Proximate composition of emu meat indicated higher protein and ash content and lower fat, total lipids and cholesterol content than meat from other meat animals. 4. The pH, water holding capacity, collagen content and solubility, protein extractability, muscle fibre diameter and Warner-Bratzler shear force values of emu meat are similar to the earlier reports for meats from other food animals. 5. Emu meat is dark, cherry red in colour with significantly higher myoglobin content and the myoglobin is more prone to oxidation as evidenced by higher initial metmyoglobin percentage. The initial thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values and free fatty acids percentage in emu meat were higher than those in meats from other species. 6. Sensory evaluation of cooked emu meat curry revealed highly acceptable scores relative to goat meat curry, the most preferred meat in India. 7. The study shows the potential of emu meat as a new source of low fat, quality meat proteins. However, more studies are required to elucidate the effect of age, sex, muscles, pre-slaughter and post-slaughter factors on different carcass and meat quality characteristics.