title: Carcass conformation and cut composition of Creole goat  from Guadeloupe.
abstract: Carcass data base of 164 Creole male goats was used in order to provide factual data on the carcass conformation. Standardised procedures of carcass measuring and cutting were followed. The European official grid of light lamb is implemented for meat goat in the French West Indies and included five levels. Weights of carcass, cuts and tissues, quality scores and linear measurements were analysed. Feeding system, age at slaughter and weight were taken into account for statistical analysis. There were significant differences among carcass conformation classes (CC) for many traits except for the fat score, leg length and compactness ratio (carcass width on length): 2.2, 34.5 cm and 0.30 on average, respectively. The values of chilled carcass weight and yield and the carcass linear measurements steadily increased until conformation class 4 or 5: 6.7 to 11.2 kg, 49% to 55% and 52.4 to 58.0 cm carcass length. For the weights of carcass cuts, significant differences appeared between two groups: classes 1 and 2 vs. classes 3, 4 and 5. Regardless of the carcass weight, the distribution of prime cuts remained similar. The indices calculated on a weight basis (kg/cm), either for the carcass or the leg, increased significantly (P<0.01): with 54% and 63% difference between the two extreme classes, respectively. The muscle, bone and fat proportions in the shoulder did not vary between CC with 0.72, 0.22 and 0.06, respectively. Corresponding traits in leg were 0.74, 0.23 and 0.03; the last two were different (P<0.05) from class 1 to class 5. The muscle/bone ratios calculated either in shoulder or in leg ranged from 3.1 to 3.6 (P>0.05).
authors.affiliation: INRA UR 143 Unité de Recherches Zootechniques, Centre INRA-Antilles-Guyane, Domaine Duclos, 97170 Petit Bourg, Guadeloupe.
authors.forename: Léticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liméa
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bocage
authors.forename: Rémy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arquet
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahieu
authors.forename: Gisele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alexandre
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology; D006041:Goats / Q000502:physiology; D019430:Guadeloupe; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*