Cooking loss in goat meat points to metabolic quality markers

New research in Etawah goats from Indonesia shows why meat quality cannot be reduced to a single pH value or carcass conformation. The team compared six animals selected from a group of 30 because they showed high or low cooking loss. Using RNA sequencing of liver tissue, it identified 332 differentially expressed genes. The focus on the liver is consistent with its central role in lipid, energy and nutrient metabolism—processes that can indirectly influence the water-holding capacity of muscle.