Dietary supplementation of conjugated linoleic acid in adult Creole goats: Effects on weight gain, carcass yield and meat quality

The study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation with rumen-protected conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on productive performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality in lactating adult Creole goats. The trial included fifteen lactating Creole goats, divided into three dietary treatments: a control group (no CLA), and groups receiving 50 or 90 g/day of CLA supplementation. The experiment lasted seven weeks after a two-week adaptation period. Results showed no significant differences between dietary treatments in terms of dry matter intake, daily weight gain, feed efficiency or back fat thickness. However, goats supplemented with 90 g/day CLA showed a slight but significant reduction in cold carcass yield. Meat quality parameters, such as final pH, shear strength, water holding capacity and chemical composition, were not affected by dietary supplementation with CLA, although all goats produced relatively tough meat, commensurate with their age. In particular, dietary supplementation with CLA significantly increased the content of the cis-9, trans-11 CLA isomer in muscle tissue, especially at the 90 g/day dose, without significantly affecting other major fatty acids. The trans-10, cis-12 CLA isomer did not noticeably accumulate in muscle tissue. Thus, although CLA supplementation effectively enriched goat meat with beneficial CLA isomers, it did not improve growth performance or standard measures of meat quality. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that supplementation with protected CLA can beneficially modify the fatty acid profile of goat meat without negatively affecting meat quality traits, potentially adding nutritional value to meat from lactating adult goats.