Directory UMM :Data Elmu:jurnal:S:Small Ruminant Research:Vol37.Issue3.Aug2000:

Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

Fatty acid composition of goat muscles and fat depots: a review
V. Banskalievaa, T. Sahlub,*, A.L. Goetschc
a

Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Animal Science, 2232 Kostinbrod, Bulgaria
E (Kika) de la Garza Institute for Goat Research, Langston University, Langston, OK 73050, USA
c
Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center ARS-USDA, 6883 South State Highway 23, Booneville, AR 72927-9214, USA
b

Received 1 October 1999; accepted 5 January 2000

Abstract
In addition to the fat content of muscle and adipose depots, the fatty acid composition of lipids affects meat quality.
Furthermore, relevant reports are dif®cult to use for comparisons, in that samples were collected from muscles and fat depots
at various anatomical locations and experiments entailed different objectives, designs, procedures and methodologies.
Nonetheless, based on currently available publications, according to a recent classi®cation of meats by concentrations of
potentially cholesterol-raising, and neutral, and cholesterol-lowering effects, average values for goat muscles appear better
than for beef and lamb. Feeding dry diets seems to increase levels of unsaturated fatty acids and stearic acid in fat depots

compared with milk or milk replacer. Increasing concentrate consumption can increase levels of odd-numbered and branched
chain fatty acids in subcutaneous fat depots. With increasing age of unweaned kids, the level of stearic acid in fat depots
decreases, and with increasing live weight of weaned kids levels of saturated fatty acids increase, and contents of
monounsaturated fatty acids decrease in most fat depots. This review of a currently limited database indicates need for further
experimentation to characterize interactions among factors such as breed, age and nutritional conditions in the fatty acid
composition of carcass lipids of goats so as to gain a fuller understanding of goat meat quality. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
All rights reserved.
Keywords: Goat; Fatty; Acids; Lipids; Meat

1. Introduction
The fatty acid composition of goat meat lipids has
received little research attention relative to that given
to milk and other meat animals (Parkash and Jenness,
1968; Palmquist and Jenkins, 1980; Haenlein, 1995).
Although, there have been some studies which have
evaluated the lipid composition of goat meat in single
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: ‡1-405-466-3836;
fax: ‡1-405-466-3138.

E-mail address: sahlu@mail.luresext.edu (T. Sahlu)

muscles, different cuts of meat and of the entire
carcass. A goal of some of these experiments has
been to use lipid composition of goat meat as a
determinant of meat quality.
Effects of factors such as breed, age, sex and
nutritional conditions on fat deposition in goats have
been studied. Goats deposit more internal fat and less
subcutaneous and intramuscular fat compared with
sheep (Smith et al., 1978; Kirton, 1988; van Niekerk
and Casey, 1988; Colomber-Rocher et al., 1992).
Hence, consumers are interested in goat meat as a
source of relatively lean meat, especially in developed

0921-4488/00/$ ± see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 4 4 8 8 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 1 2 8 - 0

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V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

countries with a high incidence of cardiovascular
diseases.
The costly deposition of fat besides the effect on
product market value represents a waste of dietary
energy. The fatty acid composition of fat usually has
little in¯uence on market value of the carcass, for
which the quantity of fat is of greater importance.
However, physical and chemical properties of lipids
affect eating and keeping qualities of meat. Meat
¯avor is in¯uenced by fatty acid composition (Melton,
1990). Saturated fatty acids increase hardness of fat
and being easily solidi®ed upon cooling in¯uence
meat palatability. On the other hand, unsaturated fatty
acids increase potential for oxidation which in¯uences
shelf life.
Little is known about the fatty acid composition of
goat meat. In only a few investigations (Sauvant et al.,
1979; Nitsan et al., 1987; Potchoiba et al., 1990; Park

and Washington, 1993; Johnson et al., 1995; Matsuoka
et al., 1997) has the fatty acid composition of lipids in
some goat muscles been studied. Moreover, there is a
limited number of publications addressing the fatty
acid composition of some fat depots in goats (Duncan
et al., 1976; Sauvant et al., 1979; Bas et al., 1982,
1987b, c, 1992, 1996; Casey and van Niekerk, 1985;
Gaili and Ali, 1985; Muller et al., 1985; Nitsan et al.,
1987; Manfredini et al., 1988; Potchoiba et al., 1990;
Zygoyiannis et al., 1992; Rojas et al., 1994; Hamminga et al., 1996). Furthermore, the available database is somewhat fragmentary, such as entailing
various muscles and fat depots and being derived from
experiments with different designs and breeds. Therefore, the objective of our review was to compile and
summarize the available literature concerning the fatty
acid composition of muscles and fat depots of goats so
as to make comparisons with other meat animals and
identify fruitful areas for further research.

2. Muscle lipids
2.1. Species
Data in Table 1 represent means of pooled data for

fatty acid composition of total lipids in different
muscles of goats in single investigations. Values are
sums of fatty acids in phospholipids and neutral lipids
(i.e., triacylglycerols plus very small quantities of free

fatty acids). Data are derived from experiments with
different designs, such as to investigate effects of diet,
breed, sex, age and anatomical location. It should be
noted that experimental procedures, methodologies
and analytical instruments also differ among experiments. Hence, caution should be exercised when
considering differences, such as among species, based
on relatively small numbers of experiments. Certainly
comparisons within experiments of factors like different diets have great value, and there is considerable
need for conduct of such experiments.
Similar to other livestock species reared for meat
production, the major fatty acids in muscle lipids of
goats are oleic (C18:1), palmitic (C16:0), stearic
(C18:0) and linoleic (C18:2). Saturated fatty acids
(SFA) include mainly myristic (C14:0), C16:0 and
C18:0; monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) are primarily palmitoleic (C16:1) and C18:1; and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) consist largely of C18:2,

linolenic (C18:3) and arachidonic (C20:4; Table 1).
Percentages are between 28 and 50 for C18:1; 15 and
31 for C16:0; 6 and 17 for C18:0; and 4 and 15 for
C18:2. Other fatty acids present in lower concentrations (e.g., C10:0, C12:0, C15:0, C15:1, C17:0, C17:1,
C20:1, C20:3,C22:0, C24:0, C22:4, C22:5 and C22:6)
are not shown because not all were determined in each
study. When values for some of these fatty acids were
available, the levels were included in the sum of SFA,
MUFA or PUFA for the particular studies. It should be
noted that lipids from ruminants contain trans and
positional isomers of C18:1 and C18:2 acids, exclusively characteristic of these animals, which in the
normal course of analysis would be recorded as C18:1
and C18:2 acids (Pearson et al., 1977). Only in the
study of Matsuoka et al. (1997) are data presented for
the cis-isomer of C18:1.
Average percentages of C16:0 and C18:0 in goat
muscles are similar to those for other ruminant species
(Table 1). The concentration of C18:0 is relatively
higher than in pork. The concentration of SFA in goat
muscles varied markedly among investigations, from

29 to 54%. The mean concentration of SFA in goats
from all studies cited is not different from that in
lambs and beef, but it is slightly higher than in pork.
The C18:1 concentration (mainly determining total
MUFA) in goats is similar to that in other species, but
the mean concentration of C16:1 in goat muscles is
higher compared with lambs. Goat muscle lipids are

Table 1
Fatty acid composition (%) of total lipids in different goat, sheep, lamb, beef and pork muscles (mean% of pooled data)a
Fatty acid:muscle/species

C10:0‡ C14:0

C14:1

C12:0

C15:0‡ C16:0

C16:1

C15:1

C17:0‡ C18:0

C18:1

C18:2

C18:3

C20:4

Others

SFA

MUFA

PUFA

C17:1

Breed

Age

(n)b

(week)

Goats
Brachii (Sauvant et al., 1979)

1.43

1.20

±

0.88

15.41

0.39

6.80

14.49

41.66

13.67

±

±

±

38.76

43.51

13.67

A (Matsuoka et al., 1997)

5±22

Leg (Nitsan et al., 1987)

±

4.85

±

±

15.60

7.27

2.82

5.92

50.52

11.05

±

2.05

±

29.19

57.79

13.10

S (Johnson et al., 1995)

5±10

Rib-LD (Potchoiba et al., 1990)

±

5.05

±

0.50

31.35

5.65

2.00

14.95

28.00

11.50

LD (Park and Washington, 1993)

±

2.93

±

±

22.30

4.73

±

16.20

46.20

9.23

1.20

±

±

53.80

33.65

12.70

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

20

±

3.43

±

41.43

50.93

12.66

A

20

±

3.58

3.70

±

23.10

2.40

±

17.20

36.20

11.80

±

4.67

±

43.88

42.30

16.47

N

20

BF (Park and Washington, 1993)

±

2.56

1.40

±

21.40

1.30

±

15.90

39.30

15.10

±

4.52

±

39.86

42.00

19.62

A

20

BF (Park and Washington, 1993)

1.35

4.76

3.58

±

24.00

4.50

±

13.90

38.70

8.06

2.18

3.54

±

44.01

46.78

13.78

N

20

Leg (Johnson et al., 1995)

±

2.13

±

±

26.50

4.00

±

16.77

39.80

4.27

1.43

2.00

3.20

48.50

43.80

7.80

F (Potchoiba et al., 1990)

24±32

LT (Matsuoka et al., 1997)

±

1.97

±

1.31

20.65

3.00

1.70

11.79

47.86

7.44

0.71

2.15

1.28

35.54

53.04

11.27

JS (Potchoiba et al., 1990)

36±40

Sheep/lamb
Rump (Duncan et al., 1976)

±

2.02

0.20

±

23.40

3.02

±

11.10

53.20

1.20

1.40

0.20

±

36.52

56.60

3.80

LD (Solomon et al., 1991)

±

1.85

0.90

±

22.71

1.74

±

16.28

41.75

5.22

0.55

±

9.84

40.80

43.58

5.77

SM (Solomon et al., 1991)

±

1.73

0.83

±

21.81

1.74

±

15.44

41.67

6.26

0.61

±

10.66

38.97

43.49

6.87

Potchoiba et al., 1990

TB (Solomon et al., 1991)

±

1.88

0.11

±

21.63

1.88

±

14.89

42.28

5.89

0.61

±

10.49

38.40

44.60

6.49

Potchoiba et al., 1990
Potchoiba et al., 1990

LD (Marinova et al., 1992)

±

4.17

±

±

28..77

2.03

±

16.13

45.30

3.60

±

±

±

49.07

47.33

3.60

Lean (Rhee, 1992)

0.44

3.13

±

±

22.82

3.58

±

13.87

42.73

8.05

1.57

1.12

2.68

41.96

47.20

10.74

TB (Enser et al., 1998)

±

3.17

±

±

19.40

2.05

±

17.90

36.59

3.43

2.31

1.19

2.51

40.47

38.64

9.41

LD (Enser et al., 1998)

±

3.99

±

±

20.90

2.19

±

17.50

35.73

3.24

1.94

1.12

2.25

42.39

37.92

8.55

GB (Enser et al., 1998)

±

3.23

±

±

20.00

2.09

±

18.60

Lean (Li et al., 1998)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

Lean (Rhee, 1992)

±

3.16

±

±

25.96

4.39

±

TB (Enser et al., 1998)

±

2.07

±

±

20.95

3.78

±

35.83

3.28

2.31

1.16

2.44

41.83

37.92

9.19

±

4.90

2.00

1.20

2.10

45.60

44.00

10.20

13.53

43.88

3.66

0.18

0.54

4.75

44.79

50.45

4.75

13.35

35.76

7.47

1.05

2.63

2.69

36.37

39.54

13.70

±

Potchoiba et al., 1990

Beef

LD (Enser et al., 1998)

±

2.40

±

±

23.75

3.62

±

14.75

36.48

5.39

0.91

1.69

2.01

40.90

40.10

10.00

GB (Enser et al., 1998)

±

2.04

±

±

19.80

4.20

±

13.40

36.48

7.40

1.06

2.71

2.47

35.24

40.68

13.64

14.02

GM (Enser et al., 1998)

±

1.77

±

±

20.60

3.40

±

Lean (Li et al., 1998)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

37.02

7.26

1.14

2.48

2.53

36.39

40.42

13.41

±

5.60

1.80

3.00

±

41.30

42.00

16.60

LD‡TB (Eichhorn et al., 1986)

±

2.00

±

0.70

25.60

5.70

±

14.20

39.80

5.60

0.60

3.50

±

42.50

45.50

10.70

LD (Rule and Beitz, 1986)

±

4.18

±

1.15

26.60

4.28

0.95

12.80

37.70

7.66

0.57

±

±

45.68

41.98

8.23

Lean (Rhee, 1992)

0.32

1.31

±

±

24.39

3.44

±

11.95

Lean (Li et al., 1998)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

LD (Hernandez et al., 1998)

±

1.21

±

±

23.80

3.13

±

BF (Hernandez et al., 1998)

±

1.15

±

±

23.00

2.86

±

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

LD (Park and Washington, 1993)

Pork
9.66

0.65

1.31

1.48

38.30

50.08

11.62

±

14.40

0.60

3.60

±

36.20

42.80

21.00

11.90

39.60

15.50

0.43

4.52

±

36.90

42.70

20.40

11.30

38.70

17.50

0.52

5.08

±

35.40

41.50

23.10

±

45.50

a

Goat breeds Ð A: Alpine; F: Florida; N: Nubian; S: Saanen; JS: Japanese Saanen. Muscles Ð BF: biceps femoris; LD: longissimus dorsi; LT: longissimus thoracis; SM: semimembranosus; TB: triceps brachii; GM: gluteus medius;
SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids.
n: No. of mean% of pooled data; nˆ1 if not speci®ed.

257

b

258

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

higher in PUFA (i.e., C18:2, C18:3 and C20:4) than
noted in lamb and beef but lower compared with pork.
For the individual PUFA, the species rankings are
C18:2: pork>goats>beef>lamb; C18:3: goatsˆlamb>
beef>pork; and C20:4: pork>goatsˆbeef>lamb.
Sinclair and O'Dea (1987) found that low intramuscular lipid in bovine muscle was characterized by
low proportions of SFA and MUFA and a high proportion of PUFA (Table 1). Park and Washington (1993)
found similar results with goats, but only with two
muscles (m. longissimus dorsi and m. biceps femoris).
Also, data from Alpine and Nubian goats were pooled
in this study. Breed differences in fatty acid composition were observed, but lipid contents of each muscle
were not presented for both breeds.
It is generally accepted that plasma cholesterol
concentration is in¯uenced by the fatty acid composition of dietary fat. High dietary levels of long-chain
SFA increase plasma cholesterol level compared with
high levels of MUFA and PUFA (Grundy and Denke,
1990). However, not all SFA have equivalent effects.
Lauric (C12:0), C14:0 and C16:0 raise the plasma
cholesterol level (Denke and Grundy, 1992; Derr et al.,
1993; Sundram et al., 1994; Tholstrup et al., 1994;
Zock et al., 1994); whereas, C18:0 does not appear to
have such an effect and is considered `neutral' (Bonanome and Grundy, 1988; Denke and Grundy, 1992;
Derr et al., 1993). Salter et al. (1998) found that even
in low cholesterol diets, C16:0 and C14:0 exert differential, dose-dependent effects on cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism. Evidence is now growing that the
molecular structure of dietary triacylglycerols plays
an important role in the development of atherosclerosis (Patsch, 1994), because triacylglycerols, enriched
with SFA at the sn-2-position, exhibit different metabolic behavior than triacylglycerols with SFA at sn-1
and sn-3 positions (Redgrave et al., 1988; Tuten et al.,
1993; Carnielli et al., 1995). Unfortunately, no data are
available concerning goat meat lipids in this respect,
and no attention has been given to C16:0 and C14:0 as
possible factors that increase cholesterol level.
Table 2 contains PUFA:SFA and (C18:0‡C18:1):
C16:0 ratios. Also included is the sum of desirable
fatty acids (DFA) according the health classi®cation of
Rhee (1992), with DFA being all unsaturated fatty
acids and C18:0. Nonetheless, in most studies where
the fatty acid composition of meat or muscle lipids
was determined, the PUFA:SFA ratio is presented

because of impacts of all SFA on the cholesterol level.
Goats are closer to beef than lamb in the PUFA:SFA
ratio. Conversely, the PUFA:SFA ratio in goats is
lower compared with pork. The PUFA:SFA ratio is
lower in ruminants than nonruminants because of
biohydrogenation of dietary unsaturated fatty acids
by ruminal microorganisms.
Rhee (1992) classi®ed some meats (pork, beef,
lamb, veal and chicken) by the concentrations of
undesirable fatty acids (potentially cholesterol-raising) and DFA (those considered to have either neutral
or cholesterol-lowering effects) in separable lean.
Following this classi®cation, data presented in
Table 2 show that average percentages of DFA in
goats are between 61 and 80, relatively higher than
values for beef and lamb and similar to levels for lean
pork.
Bonanome and Grundy (1988) suggested that only
C16:0 increases blood cholesterol, whereas C18:0 has
no effect and C18:1 decreases blood cholesterol content. Because these fatty acids represent the majority
of fatty acids, the ratio of (C18:0‡C18:1):C16:0 could
perhaps better describe possible health effects of
different types of lipids. Data in Table 2 show that
for all species this ratio is between 2 and 3, except in
studies of Sauvant et al. (1979) and Nitsan et al. (1987)
with a ratio above 3, and of Rule and Beitz (1986) and
Potchoiba et al. (1990) where it was less than 2.
Although ruminant meats normally have a low ratio
of PUFA:SFA, muscles contain a range of PUFA, both
n-6 and n-3 series, that have potential signi®cance in
human nutrition. However, information about the
amounts of these fatty acids in muscles of goats is
limited. Data presented in Table 1 show that the
contents of C18:3 and C20:4 were determined with
goats in only a few instances. Johnson et al. (1995)
presented the content of C20:3 (0.1%), and Matsuoka
et al. (1997) determined amounts of C20:2 (0.16%),
C20:3 (0.11±0.18%), C22:4 (0.13±0.17%), C22:5
(0.37±0.56%) and C22:6 (0.12%) as well. Matsuoka
et al. (1997) did not present the ratio n-6:n-3 PUFA,
but calculations based on their data suggest that the
ratio n-6:n-3 PUFA for male goats is similar to that for
bulls (Enser et al., 1998).
Although PUFA may have bene®cial effects on
blood cholesterol, there is concern that some meats
may have an excessively high ratio of n-6:n-3 PUFA
(James et al., 1992). In accordance, a diet high in such

259

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268
Table 2
PUFA:SFA and (C18:0‡C18:1):C16:0 ratios and contents of desirable fatty acids (by Rhee, 1992) in different musclesa
Species/muscle

PUFA:SFA

(C18:0‡C18:1):
C16:0

Desirable fatty acids
(Rhee, 1992)

Goats
Brachii (Sauvant et al., 1979)
Leg (Nitsan et al., 1987)
Rib±LD (Potchoiba et al., 1990)
LD (Park and Washington, 1993)
LD (Park and Washington, 1993)
BF (Park and Washington, 1993)
BF (Park and Washington, 1993)
Leg (Johnson et al., 1995)
LT (Matsuoka et al., 1997)

0.35
0.45
0.24
0.31
0.37
0.49
0.31
0.16
0.32

3.64
3.62
1.37
2.80
2.31
2.58
2.19
2.13
2.88

71.67
76.81
61.30
79.79
75.97
74.52
74.46
68.37
76.17

Sheep/lamb
Rump (Duncan et al., 1976)
LD (Solomon et al., 1991)
SM (Solomon et al., 1991)
TB (Solomon et al., 1991)
LD (Marinova et al., 1992)
Lean (Rhee, 1992)
TB (Enser et al., 1998)
LD (Enser et al., 1998)
GB (Enser et al., 1998)
Lean (Li et al., 1998)

0.10
0.14
0.18
0.17
0.07
0.26
0.23
0.20
0.22
0.22

2.75
2.56
2.62
2.64
2.13
2.48
2.81
2.55
2.72
±

71.50
65.63
65.80
65.98
67.06
71.81
65.98
63.97
65.71
±

Beef
Lean (Rhee, 1992)
TB (Enser et al., 1998)
LD (Enser et al., 1998)
GB (Enser et al., 1998)
GM (Enser et al., 1998)
Lean (Li et al., 1998)
LD‡TB (Eichhorn et al., 1986)
LD (Rule and Beitz, 1986)

0.11
0.38
0.24
0.39
0.38
0.40
0.25
0.18

2.21
2.34
2.16
2.52
2.48
±
2.11
1.90

68.73
66.59
63.45
67.72
67.85
±
70.40
63.01

Pork
Lean (Rhee, 1992)
Lean (Li et al., 1998)
LD (Hernandez et al., 1998)
TB (Hernandez et al., 1998)

0.30
0.58
0.55
0.65

2.35
±
2.16
2.17

73.65
±
75.00
75.90

a
Muscles Ð BF: biceps femoris; LD: longissimus dorsi; LT: longissimus thoracis; SM: semimembranosus; TB: triceps brachii; GM:
gluteus medius. SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids.

meat could lead to a tissue membrane imbalance in the
ratio of n-6:n-3 PUFA. C20:4 is an essential fatty acid,
which can be derived either from C18:2 or directly
from the diet. It is the precursor of a multitude of
vasoactive eicosanoids and increases in vivo platelet
aggregation. Goat muscles contain nearly twice as
much C18:2 as lamb muscles and have more C20:4
as well, but there are no data available concerning all
n-6 or n-3 series of PUFA (Table 1).

Data in Table 1 also show that there are differences
in fatty acid composition among the various muscles
of goats. The lowest content of PUFA in muscles is in
m. longissimus thoracis (Matsuoka et al., 1997), and
the highest is in m. biceps femoris of Alpine goats
(Park and Washington, 1993). However, there is a
difference between Alpine and Nubian breeds in the
level of PUFA in m. biceps femoris (Park and
Washington, 1993), as well as in the PUFA content

260

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

in m. longissimus dorsi in the different experiments
with goats. Turkki and Cambell (1967) noted a high
phospholipid concentration in red oxidative muscle
®bers. Enser et al. (1998) found that relatively white
m. longissimus dorsi in beef was generally lower in
PUFA compared with the hindlimb muscle gluteus
medius. The m. semimembranosus and m. triceps
brachii in lambs contained 12±19% more PUFA than
m. longissimus dorsi (Solomon et al., 1991).
2.2. Diet
The effect of different diets on the fatty acid composition of total lipids in different muscles was studied
in experiments of Sauvant et al. (1979) and Potchoiba
et al. (1990) with Alpine goats, and in the experiment
of Nitsan et al. (1987) with Saanen kids. Sauvant et al.
(1979) found that an elevated dietary level of milk
replacer before and after weaning increased C18:0 and
C18:1 levels, respectively, in m. brachii. Similar differences were observed in leg muscle lipids between
goats fed milk replacer versus concentrates (Nitsan
et al., 1987) and in the m. longissimus dorsi of kids
receiving milk versus a starter diet (Potchoiba et al.,
1990). By the classi®cation of Rhee (1992), results of
these studies indicate that dry diets increase level of
DFA. However, in the experiments of Sauvant et al.
(1979) and Potchoiba et al. (1990), feeding of dry diets
also increased the concentration of `undesirable' C16:0.
The fatty acid composition of ruminant tissues is
generally less affected by diet composition compared
with nonruminants. However, numerous studies with
ruminants (Marmer et al., 1984; Eichhorn et al., 1986;
Larick and Turner, 1989; Melton, 1990; Solomon et al.,
1991; Enser et al., 1998; Mandel et al., 1998) show
that different nutritional conditions can change muscle
lipid fatty acid composition, PUFA level and the n3:n-6 PUFA ratio. For example, Enser et al. (1998)
increased the content of C20:4 in beef muscles by
feeding concentrate diets. This higher level of C20:4
together with the increased concentration of 18:2
increased the ratio n-6:n-3. In the three experiments
with goats mentioned above, the C18:2 level was
increased, but except for the study of Nitsan et al.
(1987) there are no data for C20:4. The results from
experiments with goats show that, similar to other
ruminants, diet can affect fatty acid composition of
muscle lipids. However, there are no data available

examining interactions between diet, muscle type,
age, live weight or breed of goats.
2.3. Breed
Data presented in Tables 1 and 2 show considerable
differences among breeds in contents of SFA, MUFA
and PUFA and in PUFA:SFA (C18:0‡C18:1):C16:0
ratios. The lowest content of SFA and highest of
MUFA were noted for Saanen kids in the experiment
of Nitsan et al. (1987). Opposite of these data are
results for Alpine kids from the experiment of Potchoiba et al. (1990). Data for the other breeds are
between these two extremes. The muscle PUFA concentration for Florida goats (Johnson et al., 1995) was
low, resulting in the lowest PUFA:SFA ratio among
breeds. In fact, the PUFA:SFA ratio for Florida kids
was three times less than that in Alpine kids (Park and
Washington, 1993), although data of Johnson et al.
(1995) are for cooked meat. The lowest ratio of
(C18:0‡C18:1):C16:0 is for Alpine kids from the
experiment of Potchoiba et al. (1990). Lipids from
m. longissimus dorsi in Alpine kids (Park and
Washington, 1993) are characterized by a high quantity of DFA. Differences in the fatty acid composition
of muscle lipids among animals of the same breed
(Alpine) have been observed in numerous experiments
(Sauvant et al., 1979; Potchoiba et al., 1990; Park and
Washington, 1993). Ch'ang et al. (1980) in experiments with lambs hypothesized that carbon length is
probably an important factor, which is responsible for
phenotypic variation.
The fatty acid composition of the same muscle (m.
longissimus dorsi) was examined in two experiments
with Alpine kids reared on concentrate-based diets
(Potchoiba et al., 1990; Park and Washington, 1993).
Muscle lipids for the second experiment were higher
in concentration of C18:1 (46.2 versus 28.0%) but
lower in C16:0 (22.3 versus 31.3%) and C18:2 (9.2
versus 11.5%) than for the ®rst experiment. The total
amount of MUFA was also higher for the second
experiment than for the ®rst (50.9 versus 33.6%),
contrary to the difference in SFA for the second
experiment versus the ®rst (41.4 versus 53.8%). The
PUFA:SFA and (18:0‡18:1)/16:0 ratios and the sum
of DFA were higher in m. longissimus dorsi of Alpine
kids in the experiment of Park and Washington (1993)
than that of Potchoiba et al. (1990).

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

Park and Washington (1993) reared two breeds
under the same experimental conditions and noted
that SFA in m. longissimus dorsi and m. brachii
femoris were higher for Nubian than for Alpine goats,
and the opposite was true for MUFA levels in m.
longissimus dorsi and PUFA in m. biceps femoris.
Malau-Aduli et al. (1998) found breed differences
in the fatty acid composition of lipids in adipose
tissue as well as in phospholipids in m. triceps
brachii in cattle subjected to the same experimental
conditions. Differences were even greater in phospholipids. Signi®cant breed effects on tissue fatty
acid composition have also been reported for
lambs (Boylan et al., 1976; Wise, 1977; Zygoyiannis
et al., 1985; Webb and Casey, 1995). The only
available data for goat muscle phospholipid fatty
acid composition are those of Matsuoka et al.
(1997) for Japanese Saanen goats. The fatty acid
composition of phospholipids (especially PUFA)
can have a signi®cant effect not only on human
health, but also on animal metabolism and growth.
Phospholipid fatty acids play a signi®cant role in
reproductive and skeletal tissues (Simopoulous,
1994) and affect cell and anabolic processes (Scott
and Asches, 1993).
2.4. Sex
In the studies of Johnson et al. (1995) and Matsuoka
et al. (1997), despite use of different breeds and
tested meat (i.e., cooked and raw), the total muscle
lipid content was lower and the PUFA level and
the PUFA:SFA ratio were greater in male animals
compared with females. The concentration of
PUFA in females was similar between Japanese
Saanen and Florida goat breeds, but Japanese Saanen
males contained more PUFA. Also, female goats
had a higher percentage of C18:1 and lower levels
of C14:0 and C18:0, similar to results for heifers
and steers of Marchello et al. (1967) and Waldman
et al. (1968). Opposite results have been reported
by Malau-Aduli et al. (1998) with heifers and
steers. Sex differences in fatty acid composition in
the literature have been inconsistent. Other studies
(Terrel et al., 1968) with cattle have shown that
sex effects were associated with the neutral rather
than phospholipid fraction of fatty acids. The results
of Matsuoka et al. (1997) for Japanese Saanen goats

261

show that sex differences in fatty acid composition
are more pronounced in phospholipids than in neutral
lipids.

3. Other fat depots
3.1. Species
Tables 3 and 4 present the fatty acid composition of
total lipids (i.e., mainly triacylglycerols and small
amounts of free fatty acids) for different fat depots
for goats and for sheep, lamb and beef, respectively.
The results represent mean values of pooled data and
come from different experiments, where effects of
factors such as diet, live weight, age and anatomical
location were studied. Relatively more data are available for internal and subcutaneous fat depots than for
intermuscular lipids.
The main fatty acids of goat fat depots, regardless of
the location of the adipose tissues in the body, are
C18:1, C18:0 and C16:0, followed by C14:0, C16:1,
C17:0 and C18:2 (Table 3). Levels are lowest for
C10:0, C12:0, C14:1, C15:0, C17:1 and C18:3. However, minor fatty acids were not quanti®ed in all cited
studies. Goat depot lipids consist mainly of SFA (30±
71%) and MUFA (20±57%). The PUFA (i.e., the sum
of C18:2 and C18:3) are less than 6% in some fat
depots. The contents of SFA, MUFA and PUFA vary
depending on anatomical location.
In general, the fatty acid composition of fat depots
in goats (Table 3) appears in the range typical for
ruminants (Table 4). Goat kidney fat is higher in
C18:0 and lower in C14:0, C16:1, MUFA and PUFA
compared with lambs. The C16:0 concentration in
kidney fat is similar between goats and lambs, but
lower for goats compared with beef. Opposite to
kidney fat, subcutaneous fat depots in goats are less
saturated, relatively higher in MUFA and contain
less C18:2, C18:3 compared with sheep. Hilditch
and Williams (1964) noted that land animals tend
to have a relatively constant amount of palmitic
acid in fat depots. Gaili and Ali (1985) compared
three fat depots (subcutaneous, kidney and intermuscular) in fattening sheep and goats and found that
goat depots contained more C18:1. Our compiled
data show this to be true for the subcutaneous fat
depots, but in contrast goat kidney fat was higher

Table 3
Fatty acid composition (%) of different goat fat depot lipids (mean% of pooled data)a
Fatty acid: Fat depot

C10:0‡

C14:0

C14:1

C15:0

C16:0

C16:1

C17:0

C17:1

C18:0

C18:1

C18:2

C18:3

Others

SFA

MUFA

PUFA

Breed (n)b

C12:0

Age or
BW

SC (Duncan et al., 1976)

±

3.50

±

±

21.00

3.50

±

±

14.50

41.00

1.50

±

14.00

53.00

44.50

1.50

(Pericardic (Sauvant et al., 1979)

0.48

2.27

0.14

1.33

17.70

0.62

6.34

1.23

22.69

41.62

3.74

±

±

50.81

43.63

3.74

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

5±22 wk

Kidney (Sauvant et al., 1979)

0.55

1.97

0.29

1.36

17.33

0.69

6.47

1.17

23.87

39.81

4.44

±

±

51.55

41.96

4.44

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

5±22 wk

Omental (Sauvant et al., 1979)

0.56

2.09

0.24

1.20

17.09

0.59

6.13

1.38

21.19

42.07

3.92

±

±

48.26

44.27

3.92

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

5±22 wk

Pericostal (Sauvant et al., 1979)

0.60

2.38

±

1.53

18.52

0.49

7.09

1.89

10.01

52.39

2.89

±

±

40.13

54.77

2.89

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

5±22 wk

Susternal (Sauvant et al., 1979)

0.65

2.90

1.82

2.60

16.98

1.68

9.45

3.29

5.77

49.01

1.69

±

±

38.35

55.80

1.69

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

5±22 wk

Inguinal (Sauvant et al., 1979)

0.61

2.66

2.11

3.67

17.73

1.59

8.44

2.41

12.11

43.32

3.04

±

±

45.20

49.43

3.04

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

5±22 wk

Kidney (Casey and van Niekerk, 1985)

±

3.39

±

±

26.97

1.17

2.06

0.54

32.09

25.16

0.99

±

±

64.51

26.87

0.99

B (Muller et al., 1985)

15 wk

SC (Casey and van Niekerk, 1985)

±

2.99

±

±

23.91

3.21

1.72

1.57

15.26

42.95

0.95

±

±

43.88

47.70

0.95

B (Muller et al., 1985)

15 wk

Kidney (Gaili and Ali, 1985)

±

±

±

9.90

32.00

±

±

±

27.50

28.10

1.80

±

±

69.40

28.10

1.80

SD

22 kg

SC (Gaili and Ali, 1985)

±

±

±

8.30

32.20

±

±

±

28.90

28.70

1.90

±

±

69.40

28.70

1.90

SD

22 kg

IM (Gaili and Ali, 1985)

±

±

±

10.70

32.10

±

±

±

28.00

28.20

2.00

±

±

70.80

28.20

2.00

SD

22 kg

Kidney (Muller et al., 1985)

1.46

7.69

0.29

0.49

24.92

2.67

1.18

0.52

19.14

34.79

3.80

0.45

0.66

55.23

38.58

4.25

GG (Casey and van Niekerk, 1985)

SC (Muller et al., 1985)

0.89

7.02

0.48

0.53

23.78

3.86

1.06

0.90

12.13

41.96

3.74

0.52

0.81

45.95

47.47

4.26

GG (Casey and van Niekerk, 1985)

Kidney (Nitsan et al., 1987)

4.77

12.20

±

±

21.85

4.17

1.06

0.53

16.27

34.77

4.60

±

±

56.15

39.47

4.60

S (Gaili and Ali, 1985)

Mesenteric (Nitsan et al., 1987)

4.00

10.34

±

±

19.35

5.82

0.56

0.70

12.07

42.22

4.42

±

±

46.36

48.74

4.50

S (Gaili and Ali, 1985)

5±10 wk

Omental (Bas et al., 1987b)

±

±

±

±

29.90

±

±

±

27.60

25.60

±

±

±

57.50

25.60

±

A

5±22 wk

Perirenal (Bas et al., 1987b)

±

±

±

±

32.10

±

±

±

30.70

19.60

±

±

±

62.80

19.60

±

A

5±22 wk

Mesenteric (Bas et al., 1987b)

±

±

±

±

29.00

±

±

±

32.60

20.70

±

±

±

61.60

20.70

±

A

5±22 wk

Periranal (Bas et al., 1987c)

±

±

±

±

18.15

1.60

2.45

±

27.45

38.30

±

±

1.60

49.65

39.90

±

A (Nitsan et al., 1987)

4±8 wk

Sternal (Bas et al., 1987c)

±

±

±

±

15.85

3.30

3.60

±

5.80

50.75

±

±

5.85

31.10

54.05

±

A

4±8 wk

Inguinal (Manfredini et al., 1988)

2.03

7.53

0.87

0.52

20.85

4.92

1.08

1.28

11.41

43.44

2.99

0.99

±

43.42

50.51

3.96

A (Casey and van Niekerk, 1985)

12±19 wk

Sternal (Manfredini et al., 1988)

1.71

6.90

1.05

0.56

20.44

5.62

1.08

1.62

8.64

45.64

3.53

1.22

±

39.33

53.93

4.75

A (Casey and van Niekerk, 1985)

12±19 wk

Sacral (Potchoiba et al., 1990)

±

6.30

±

0.70

30.00

3.40

2.10

±

23.30

28.70

5.35

0.60

±

62.55

32.10

5.9

A (Sauvant et al., 1979)

20 wk

Kidney (Zygoyiannis et al., 1992)

1.59

7.89

±

±

27.00

2.38

±

±

23.80

30.10

4.53

0.55

2.13

62.41

32.48

5.08

G (Sauvant et al., 1979)

5±9 wk

SC (Zygoyiannis et al., 1992)

1.38

8.51

±

±

26.85

3.63

±

±

13.90

38.00

4.45

0.60

2.83

53.47

41.63

5.05

G (Sauvant et al., 1979)

5±9 wk

Omental (Bas et al., 1992)

±

3.00

±

±

29.90

1.20

2.20

0.60

27.60

27.90

0.90

±

±

62.70

30.00

0.90

Kidney (Rojas et al., 1994)

2.82

9.85

±

0.56

24.46

3.01

0.93

0.61

13,80

35.34

4.32

±

4.30

52.43

38.96

4.30

Kidney (Bas et al., 1996)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

62.50

33.80

±

(Sauvant et al., 1979)

V (Bas et al., 1987c)

5±10 wk

7 wk
17 wk

Omental (Bas et al., 1996)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

54.10

39.40

±

17 wk

IM (Bas et al., 1996)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

48.20

45.50

±

17 wk

Caudal (Bas et al., 1996)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

34.00

50.60

±

17 wk

Sternal (Bas et al., 1996)

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

±

29.80

57.30

±

17 wk

Kidney (Hamminga et al., 1996)

±

2.87

1.40

±

26.28

3.52

±

±

31.82

25.67

2.36

0.33

±

60.97

30.59

2.69

WAD

120 wk

Intestinal (Hamminga et al., 1996)

±

2.80

1.28

±

22.52

3.37

±

±

29.01

29.58

2.74

0.78

±

54.33

34.23

3.52

WAD

160 wk

a

Breeds Ð A: Alpine; B: Boer; G: Greek; GG: improved German; S: Saanen; SD: Sudan desert; V: Verata; WAD: West African Dwarf.; SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids; SC:
subcutaneous; IM: intermuscular.
b

n: No. of mean% of pooled data; nˆ1 if not speci®ed.

Table 4
Fatty acid composition (%) of different fat depot lipids of sheep, lambs and beef (mean% of pooled data)a
Fatty acid: fat depot

MUFA PUFA Breed
(n)b

Sheep/lamb
Kidney (Gaili and Ali, 1985)
SC (Gaili and Ali, 1985)
IM (Gaili and Ali, 1985)
Kidney (Zygoyiannis et al., 1985)
Kidney (Zygoyiannis et al., 1985)
Kidney (Zygoyiannis et al., 1985)
SC (Zygoyiannis et al., 1985)
SC (Zygoyiannis et al., 1985)
SC (Zygoyiannis et al., 1985)
Separable fat (Rhee, 1992)
SC (Webb and Casey, 1995)
SC (Webb and Casey, 1995)
Kidney (Banskalieva, 1996)
SC (Banskalieva, 1996)
Breast (Banskalieva, 1996)

±
±
±
2.00
1.50
1.60
2.10
1.60
1.50
0.84
±
±
±
±
±

Beef
Separable fat (Rhee, 1992)
LD (Bock et al., 1991)
SM (Perry et al., 1998)

0.82
±
±

±
±
±
9.10
7.50
7.80
9.50
7.60
8.10
4.79
4.79
5.09
5.75
10.07
8.70

±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±

3.80 ±
4.59 ±
3.76 2.13

9.60
7.70
10.900
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
0.63
0.62
±
±
±

32.90
32.20
33.20
25.00
24.00
25.10
26.50
24.60
25.80
24.90
21.25
22.05
22.70
27.10
25.80

±
±
±
3.40
3.40
3.20
4.40
4.90
4.20
3.17
2.40
2.42
2.00
2.75
4.95

±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
2.49
2.12
±
±
±

±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
0.88
0.65
±
±
±

28.10
30.10
28.90
17.60
19.30
17.50
11.40
11.30
11.60
15.70
22.01
22.84
26.75
16.90
11.55

27.70
28.20
27.80
33.80
35.20
36.20
36.90
40.00
39.10
40.71
39.05
36.96
37.50
38.72
45.00

1.70
1.80
1.90
4.20
3.20
3.20
4.40
3.50
3.40
6.07
3.99
4.10
5.75
4.40
4.20

±
±
±
1.10
1.30
1.20
1.40
1.50
1.40
2.08
0.93
0.81
±
±
±

±
±
±
3.60
4.20
4.30
3.30
4.90
4.80
0.19
0.22
0.22
±
±
±

70.60
70.00
73.00
57.30
56.50
56.30
52.804
50.00
51.80
46.23
51.45
52.95
55.20
54.07
45.50

27.70
28.20
27.80
37.20
38.60
39.40
41.30
44.90
43.30
45.42
42.35
40.04
39.05
41.47
49.95

1.70
1.80
1.90
5.30
5.50
4.40
5.80
5.00
4.80
8.35
4.91
4.90
5.75
4.40
4.02

±
±
0.33

28.17 6.16
31.35 4.07
24.85 5.68

±
±
0.99

±
±
1.13

14.00 42.81 2.37
17.91 42.03 0.46
14.58 42.88 2.14

1.70
0.42
1.49

0.17
±
±

46.78 49.15
53.85 46.10
44.51 51.84

4.07
0.88
3.63

SD
SD
SD
S
K
Ch
S
K
Ch
D (2)
S (2)
B (3)
B (3)
B (3)

H (3)
H (3)

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

C10:0‡ C14:0 C14:1 C15:0 C16:0 C16:1 C17:0 C17:1 C18:0 C18:1 C18:2 C18:3 Others SFA
C12:0

a

Breeds Ð B: local Bulgarian sheep; K, Ch, S: local Greek sheep; D, S :South African sheep; SD: Sudan Desert sheep; H: Hereford steers.; LD: over m. longissimus dorsi; SM:
over m. semimembranosus; SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids; SC: subcutaneous; IM: intermuscular.
b
n: No. of mean% of pooled data; nˆ1 if not speci®ed.

263

264

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

in C18:0 and relatively lower in C18:1 compared with
lambs. Comparing subcutaneous and kidney fat in kids
and lambs slaughtered at similar age, Zygoyiannis
et al. (1985, 1992) concluded that kid fat is harder
because of a higher content of SFA, mainly C18:0.
Webb and Casey (1995) indicated that subcutaneous
adipose tissue of lambs is high in C18:0. Data presented in Tables 3 and 4 show that the mean percentage of C18:0 in subcutaneous adipose tissue of goats
is similar to that of lambs.
In contrast to the investigations with muscle lipids
(except for the studies of Matsuoka et al., 1997 and
Sauvant et al., 1979), a few investigations of depot fat
have considered positional or geometrical isomers of
some fatty acids as well as odd-numbered (C15:0,
C17:0 and C17:1) and branched chain (iso- or anteiso
fatty acids with a middle carbon chain, mainly saturated as C12:0, C14:0, C15:0, C16:0 and C17:0, and
monoenic C16:1) fatty acids (Duncan et al., 1976;
Sauvant et al., 1979; Bas et al., 1987a,c, 1992, 1996;
Hamminga et al., 1996; Matsuoka et al., 1997). For
example, Duncan et al. (1976) and Bas et al. (1987a)
noted that levels of branched chain and odd-numbered
fatty acids in subcutaneous adipose tissue were high in
goats and that concentrations of C14:1 and C15:1 were
very low.
Oleic acid is the main fatty acid in both goat
muscles and fat depot (Tables 1 and 3) and the average
percentage from all subcutaneous fat depots studied is
similar, but that from kidney fat is lower than for
muscle lipids. On the contrary, the average percentage
of C18:0 is higher in kidney fat depots than in muscles.
Depot lipids also contain more other SFA, such as
C10:0, C12:0, C15:0 and C17:0, but less C18:2. Data
for SFA and MUFA percentages of some fat depots are
to some extent close to average levels of SFA and
MUFA in muscle lipids.
Comparisons of the fatty acid composition among
fat depots (consisting mainly of triacylglycerols) and
of muscle lipids (containing relatively larger amounts
of phospholipids) should be done with caution. Only
in the study of Matsuoka et al. (1997) were data
presented separately for the muscle phospholipid fraction and for neutral lipids (mainly triacylglycerols).
Levels of C18:1, C18:0 and C16:0 indicate that neutral
lipids in muscles of Japanese Saanen goats are close to
those of the pericostal fat depot of Alpine goats
(Sauvant et al., 1979).

3.2. Anatomical location
The numbers and locations of the fat depots studied
in goats vary among experiments. In some, one or two
depots have been investigated (Duncan et al., 1976;
Casey and van Niekerk, 1985; Bas et al., 1987b;
Manfredini et al., 1988; Potchoiba et al., 1990;
Zygoyiannis et al., 1992; Rojas et al., 1994; Hamminga et al., 1996), although in others more have been
considered (Sauvant et al., 1979; Gaili and Ali, 1985;
Muller et al., 1985; Bas et al., 1987a,b). Results are
also presented from different locations of subcutaneous adipose tissue (Sauvant et al., 1979; Bas et al.,
1987c), as well as from different sites of the same
adipose tissue such as omental adipose tissue (Bas
et al., 1992).
In general, internal fat depots in goats are more
saturated than subcutaneous fat (Table 3), similar to
results for lambs (Marchello et al., 1967; L'Estrange
and Mulvihill, 1975; Kemp et al., 1981; Zygoyiannis
et al., 1985; Banskalieva, 1996; Table 4). Leat (1976)
and Belibasakis et al. (1990) concluded that subcutaneous fat in sheep, cattle and pigs is softer (i.e., more
unsaturated) than internal depot fat. Likewise, our
compiled data suggest that some internal fat depots
in kids are less saturated than other subcutaneous fat
depots. Kidney fat from nine different investigations
(Table 3) varies from 17 to 32, 16±32 and 20±40% in
C16:0, C18:0 and C18:1, respectively. The results of
Bas et al. (1987a), involving ®ve visceral adipose
tissues and six subcutaneous fat depots of Alpine
goats between Weeks 35 and 39 of lactation, depict
highly variable fatty acid composition among tissues.
The ranking of SFA in visceral sites was: perinephric>pericardic>mesenteric>great omentum>minus
omentum. Various locations of subcutaneous adipose
tissue differ in fatty acid composition as well (Sauvant
et al., 1979; Bas et al., 1987a; Manfredini et al., 1988).
The ranking in the extent of saturation for subcutaneous fat depots was: inguinal>udder>loin>costal>caudal>sternal. There were also substantial
differences in saturation among the same locations
of subcutaneous fat depots noted by Zygoyiannis et al.
(1992) and Bas et al. (1996).
Bas et al. (1987a) found that pericardic fat tissue in
Alpine goats between Weeks 35 and 39 of lactation
was highest in C18:0, whereas caudal and sternal fat
was low in C18:0, C17:0 and C18:1n-6 but high in

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

C16:1n-7, C17:1n-8, C18:1n-7, C18:n-9 and branched
chain fatty acids. The last two depots listed had the
lowest lipid content compared with other subcutaneous fat depots as well as with internal depots. These
results are in agreement with those of Sinclair and
O'Dea (1987), in that a lower lipid content is accompanied by a higher level of MUFA. However, in
another study with pregnant Alpine goats, Bas et al.
(1987b) reported that the omental adipose tissue,
which was higher in lipid content, contained more
C18:1 than mesenteric fat depot. Bas et al. (1992) also
found differences in fatty acid composition of 11
samples taken from different sites of omental fat in
dry Alpine goats.
3.3. Diet
During milk feeding the fatty acid composition of
adipose tissue of kids depends on the fatty acid
composition of milk fat (Sauvant et al., 1979; Muller
et al., 1985; Kuhne et al., 1986). In the investigations
of Duncan et al. (1976); Sauvant et al. (1979); Casey
and van Niekerk (1985); Muller et al. (1985); Nitsan
et al. (1987); Potchoiba et al. (1990) and Rojas et al.
(1994), carried out with different breeds of goats
(Alpine, Boer, improved German, Saanen and Verata),
effects of diet composition were examined. Use of
higher amounts of milk replacer or concentrates,
feeding of milk replacer versus milk and use of
concentrates compared with milk or milk replacer
resulted in lower contents of C14:0 and C16:0 and
greater levels of C18:1 and C18:2 in fat depots studied
(internal or subcutaneous). Although, magnitudes of
difference varied with the type of fat depot. A common
result from these experiments is that lipids in depots
studied were softer, with an increase in the content of
MUFA and PUFA. Also there is tissue dependence, in
that various fat depots react differently to the type of
diet. It was found that increasing concentrate consumption leads to accumulation of more odd-numbered (C15:0, C17:0 and C17:1) and branched fatty
acids (saturated C14, C15 and C16) in subcutaneous
fat depots, and also a high intake of milk replacer
increases the proportions of some minor fatty acids
(e.g., C20:1). Comparing data from two experiments
with goats of the same breed (Sauvant et al., 1979;
Manfredini et al., 1988), a substantial effect of diet is
evident. Use of a concentrate diet (Manfredini et al.,

265

1988) compared with use of milk replacer (Sauvant
et al., 1979) led to a higher level of unsaturated fatty
acids (MUFA and PUFA) in sternal (59.7 versus 48.2)
and inguinal fat (56.0 versus 45.4).
3.4. Age and sex
In the studies of Bas et al. (1987c) and Zygoyiannis
et al. (1992) with increasing age at slaughter of
unweaned kids the composition of fat depots changed
with a decreasing proportion of stearic acid but
increasing proportions of all other acids. As a result
of these changes the melting point of fat depots
decreased, although there were signi®cant effects of
age on the softness index (Zygoyiannis et al., 1992).
Increasing age of slaughter of weaned kids receiving a
concentrate-based diet decreases the MUFA level in
kidney and subcutaneous adipose tissues (Bas et al.,
1987b). Bas et al. (1982) pointed out that levels of
branched chain fatty acids (saturated C14, C15 and
C16) in subcutaneous fat were higher in intact than
castrated kids. Rojas et al. (1994) did not ®nd any
effect of sex on the fatty acid composition of kidney
fat. Animal physiological state, such as dry versus
pregnant, had similar total lipid concentration and
fatty acid composition of omental fat (Bas et al.,
1987b, 1992).
3.5. Live weight
Sauvant et al. (1979) compared the fatty acid composition of different fat depots for unweaned (8±9 kg
live weight) and weaned (average 27 kg live weight)
Alpine kids. In older kids, fat depots except sternal and
inguinal fat increased in stearic acid concentration
with increasing live weight, and in all depots the
content of SFA increased and the level of MUFA
decreased.
In the experiment of Manfredini et al. (1988), with
Alpine kids receiving milk replacer and concentrates
and slaughtered at 12, 16 or 19 kg of live weight, in
both inguinal and sternal adipose tissues there was a
constant decrease in the ratio of SFA to unsaturated
fatty acids as live weight increased. Similar results
have been noted by Webb and Casey (1995) and
Banskalieva (1996) for subcutaneous and perirenal
adipose tissues of lambs slaughtered at different live
weights.

266

V. Banskalieva et al. / Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 255±268

4. Conclusions
There have been relatively few studies on the fatty
acid composition of lipids in muscles and fat depots of
goats. The present reports available are dif®cult to use
for comparisons, in that samples were collected from
muscles and fat depots at various anatomical locations
and experiments entailed different designs, and procedures and methodologies differ among experiments
as well. Interactions among diet, age, live weight,
breed and rearing conditions in the fatty acid composition of lipids in different types of muscles and fat
depots in goats have not been extensively studied, and
little attention has been given to the characteristic of
goats to deposit high levels of internal fat. The goat is
known to produce relatively lean meat, yet there have
been only a few incomplete reports on the mono- and
polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration in muscle
(being of importance for human health). For example,
currently conjugated linoleic acid, as an anticarcinogenic factor, is the subject of a large number of
investigations with ruminants, but not yet with goats.
Thus, goat meat fatty acid composition deserves more
research attention, especially now when different
systems of nutrition and breeding are being tested
for improving goat meat production.

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