cutability and nutrient content of whitetail deer

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Page 1: CUTABILITY AND NUTRIENT CONTENT OF WHITETAIL DEER

CUTABILITY AND NUTRIENT CONTENT OF WHITETAIL DEER'

M. J. MARCHELLO, P. T. BERG, W. D. SLANGER and R. L. HARROLD

Department of Animal Science North Dakota State University

Fargo, ND 58105

Accepted for Publication September 13, 1983

ABSTRACT

The role of game meats as a food source has been largely ignored today, but m a y provide the principle meat source for many individuals. Fifieen whitetail deer were completely boned to obtain lean meat. A typical skinned and dressed cold carcass yielded 72 % boneless lean tissue. The average moisture, protein and fat content were 73.5, 23.6 and 1.4%, respectively. Energy value and cholesterol content was 149 kca1/100g and 116 mg/lOOg, respectively. Venison contained high levels of essen- tial amino acids and was comparable to lean beef in amino acid content. Selected minerals in the longissimus muscle from 13 animals revealed large amounts (mglg) of K , Na and P and stnaller amounts (pg /g ) of Ca, Cu, Fe, M g , Mn and Zn.

INTRODUCTION

Consumers are presently expressing concern over the nutrient composition of their diets. The nutritional value of food depends on nutrient content and availability, quan- tity eaten and the composition of the total diet. The livelihood of the American In- dian and even the early settlers required the harvest of game for food. The role of game meats as a source of food has been largely ignored in modern times, yet it may provide the principle meat source for many individuals in the United States as well as in some of the developing countries.

A significant portion of the meat consumed in North Dakota is derived from wild game but there is very little scientific information relating to the nutritional value of game meats. Furthermore, there is .virtually no information available relative to the potential for supplying human need through game harvest. Crawford (1974) quotes claims that the lean tissue produced by free roaming animals is nutritionally superior to meat from animals raised under intensive management. Data to support this claim were, however, not presented. Within the literature, many similar intimations con- cerning the alleged superiority of game meats can be found. The most prevalent

'Published with the approval of the Director. North Dakota Agr. Exp. Station

Journal of Food Quality 7 (1985) 267-275. All Rights Reserved BCopyright 1985 by Food & Nutriiion Press, Inc. ~ Westpon, Connecticut

261

Page 2: CUTABILITY AND NUTRIENT CONTENT OF WHITETAIL DEER

268 M. J. MARCHELLO, P. T. BERG, W. D. SLANGER and R. L. HARROLD

claim for game meats is a significantly lower caloric content and higher protein value than for meat from domestic animals (Novakowski and Solomon 1975; Spillet et ul. 1975; Watt and Merrill 1963). Relatively little information seems to be available on the nutrient composition of big game meats because all published information is derived from a very narrow data base.

This study was initiated to compile a more complete data base on the nutritive value of whitetail deer 2nd to estimate the potential for supplying human food through systematic game harvesting.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifteen whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginiunus) shot by hunters were delivered to the North Dakota State University meat laboratory for cutout analysis. All carcasses were field-dressed (viscera and blood removed). Whenever possible, gut weight was obtained by the hunter so that whole body weight estimates were obtained. The pro- gression of cutout weights obtained were field-dressed weight, skinned and dressed weight, boneless lean meat and shot loss weight (weight discarded due to bullet damage).

After the carcasses were skinned, they were kept in a 3 "C cooler ( 1 to 3 days) until they could be separated into lean boneless meat. One sample of approximately 454 g was taken from the longissimus muscle of each carcass for nutrient analysis. Five additional longissimus muscle samples were obtained from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

Each individual muscle sample was frozen and lyophilized. The samples were thoroughly homogenized and stored at -20 "C. Dry matter was determined by oven drying at 105"C, protein by the macro-Kjeldahl method (AOAC 1980) and total fat content by the Foss-Let procedure (AOAC 1980). Gross energy was determined by bomb calorimetry as described in the Parr 1241 Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter Manual. Total lipids of tissue were extracted gravimetrically with a chloroform- methanol mixture (2: 1) using the basic procedure described by Folch et al. (1957). Cholesterol from lipid extracts was analyzed by the acetic anhydride-sulfuric acid colorimetric method of Stadtman (1957).

The amino acid content of each muscle sample was determined by ion exchange chromatography using a Technicon Model TSM-1 Analyzer and a Hewlett-Packard model 3388 A chromatograph integrator. Norleucine was added as an internal stan- dard. The elution program was adjusted to permit quantitative determination of the cysteic acid and methionine sulfoxide. The molar quantities of these oxidation pro- ducts were added to the amounts of the respective parent compounds detected. Amino acid content was expressed as g/lOO g fresh tissue.

A portion of each lyophilized venison sample was sent to the USDAISEA Human Nutrition Center for mineral analysis. Concentrations of metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (Dahlquist and Knoll 1978).

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WHITETAIL DEER COMPOSITION 269

Determinations were made for K, Na, P, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Zn and Mn.

dent sample t-test (Snedecor and Cochran 1980). Means and standard deviations were determined and were tested with the indepen-

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Whole body weight of hunter provided deer averaged 68 kg while a compilation of ten years’ data supplied by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department averag- ed 62 kg. Hay et al. (1961) in Colorado obtained 64.5 kg whole body weight in their study. Whole body weight is used in place of live weight because of the in- ability of methods to account for blood loss. Blood loss in slaughtered steers ranges from 3.04 to 3.70% of whole weight (Ramsey et al. 1965). According to Reichert and Broom (1909), these amounts are less than half the total blood in the body.

Spillet et al. (1975), using figures from the 1970 Utah game harvest compiled by Stapley and John (1971), list the mean dressed weight of mule deer bucks, does and fawns at 62.7, 45.5 and 10.2 kg, respectively, for a weighted average of 53.1 kg. Using data from Texas (Teer 1973, a calculated meat yield of 37.6 kg was reported. This is in contrast to the summary of Wilcox (1976) who reported the average weight of boneless lean per Texas deer to be 16.6 kg. It is quite apparent that whole body weight is dependent upon location, which influences the size and weight of various deer species.

The percentage of lean tissue from whitetail deer at various stages of processing is shown in Table 1. The average yield of lean red meat represents 49 % of the live weight, 59% of the field dressed weight and 72% of the skinned and dressed car- cass. Wilcox (1976) showed that in whitetail, 55 % of the field dressed weight was represented as lean edible product. This difference can be accounted for by the fact that Wilcox’s (1976) data came from commercial processing operations and the trim- ming may not have been as scrupulous as in our work. Field et al. (1973), working with mule deer carcasses, obtained 58 % cut out from field dressed weight. However, some bone and fat was left in the retail cuts. Cockriil (1974) reported a 59% yield of dressed eland carcasses.

Table 1 . Average yield of lean edible tissue of whitetail deer by various stages of processing.

S t a g e o f P r o c e s s i n g Lean T i s s u e S t a n d a r d D e v i a t i o n

-------------------(x)--------------------

L i v e w e i g h t 49 3.1

F i e l d d r e s s e d w e i g h t 59 3.0

Skinned and d r e s s e d 72 3.8

Page 4: CUTABILITY AND NUTRIENT CONTENT OF WHITETAIL DEER

270 M. J. MARCHELLO, P. T. BERG, W. D. SLANGER and R. L. HARROLD

Table 2 . Nutrient composition of whitetail deer and standard grade beef.

Nut rlent Whitgtail Standagd Beef Significance Mean f SD Mean 2 SD Level

Dry Matter % 26.5 0.98 26.8 1.21 0.2905

Protein % 23.6 1.06 22.7 0.57 0.0001

Fat X 1.4 0.47 2.7 1.07 0.0001

Ash X 1.2 0.31 1.1 0.04 0.0279

Energya (kca1/100g) 149.0 6.62 154.0 10.37 0.1302

Cholesterola (mg/lOOg) 116.3 27.86 70.9 13.59 0.0001

aWet weight basis.

bN = 20.

The nutrient composition of the longissimus muscle of whitetail deer is shown in Table 2. Venison was high in protein (23.6%), high in moisture (73.5%) and low in fat (1.4 %) and gross energy (149 kcaI/ 1 OOg) when compared to commonly quoted nutrient value tables for other meats. Values reported in USDA Handbook 8 (Watt and Merrill 1963) were somewhat similar to our data: protein (21 %), moisture (74%), fat (4%) and food energy (126kca1/100g). Although Watt and Merrill(l963) reported fat content at 4 % compared to 1.4 % by our analysis, it is surprising that their caloric value was lower (126 vs. 149). Field et al. (1973) reported ether ex- tract values from nonskeletal tissue in venison from mule deer to range from 9.2 to 10.6% and energy value from 206 to 222 kcall 1OOg. Lean tissue for USDA stan- dard grade beef was used as a reference material (Table 2). Venison was similar to beef for dry matter and caloric content. Statistically, venison had more protein, ash and cholesterol and less fat than beef. In fact, the cholesterol content of venison at 116 mg/100 g was more than half again as high as beef (70.9 mg/100 g). Rhee et al. (1982) reported that cholesterol content of standard grade beef was 60 mgllOO g.

Venison, like other lean meat, is high in the essential amino acids which give this meat a high biological value. The amino acid profile is shown in Table 3. The coef- ficient of variation was approximately 5-8 % for individual amino acids. The amino acid content of venison when compared to beef with similar lipid content (beef top round muscle) was similar (Harrold and Marchello 1983). The lysine, total sulfur- containing amino acids (methionine plus cystine [SAA]) and threonine content of venison was higher than the vaIues reported for pork chops (Ewan et a/ . 1979).

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WHITETAIL DEER COMPOSITION 27 1

Table 3. Total amino acids in longissirnus muscle for whitetail deep.

mg/100g Fresh T i s sue Amino Acid Mean Standard Devia t ion

A s p a r t i c a c i d

Threonine

Se r ine

Glutamic a c i d

P r o l i n e

Glyc ine

Alanine

Cyst i n e

Val ine

Methionine

I s o l e u c i n e

Leucine

Tyros i n e

Phenylamine

H i s t i d i n e

Lys ine

Argin ine

NH4

2.23

1.13

1.02

3.49

1 . 2 4

1.23

1.50

0.27

1.12

0.59

0.95

2.04

0.85

0.98

1.19

2.10

1.73

0.46

0.12

0.09

0.06

0.23

0.21

0.11

0.13

0.04

0.08

0.09

0.09

0.11

0.06

0.C6

0.09

0.15

0.10

0.03

aMeans o f 13 obse rva t ions , c o r r e c t e d t o 95% N recovery .

The ranking of limiting amino acids in venison is influenced by the reference amino acid pattern chosen. Comparison to the requirements of the 10-12 year-old child (NRC 1980) indicates that threonine, SAA and isoleucine would be the first-, second-, and third-limiting amino acids, respectively. Isoleucine, valine and total aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine plus tyrosone) would be first-, second-, and third-limiting if the amino acid pattern for high-quality proteins (NRC 1980) is used for comparison.

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272 M. J. MARCHELLO, P. T. BERG, W. D. SLANGER and R. L. HARROLD

Table 4. Mean mineral contenta of longissirnus muscle for thirteen whitetail deer carcasses.

Mineral Mean Standard Deviation

2.84

2.12

0.51

229.97

38.36

36.05

19.73

2.81

0.41

0.26

0.09

0.08

10.01

5.97

11.71

3.04

0.20

0.08

aAs i s bas is .

Utilization of the FAO/WHO standard in the methods of Satterlee et al. (1982) would indicate that SAA, isoleucine and valine, respectively, would be the limiting amino acids in venison. Steinke et al. (1980) have indicated that SAA are first-limiting in many muscle proteins.

The mean mineral content of whitetail deer are shown in Table 4. Relatively large quantities of K, P and Na (mg/g of tissue) and smaller amounts (pg/g tissue) of Mg, Ca, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn were observed on an “as is” basis. Watt and Merrill (1963) reported values of 10 and 249 mg/100 g of Ca and P, respectively. Our data were considerably lower for Ca (3.8 mg/100 g) and somewhat lower for P (212 mg/100 g). If one takes into account moisture and fat, the differences for these two minerals in these studies were even greater. No other comparison in the literature could be found. Venison longissimus muscle was compared to beef longissimus muscle (Table 5 ) on a 100% dry weight, fat free basis in order to take into account the influence of fat and moisture. Venison longissimus contained slightly more P, Mg, Fe, Cu and Mn than beef longissimus muscle but lesser amounts of K, Na, Ca and Zn. These differences were probably due to feeding regimen and age of the animals. The beef data was from 16 to 18 month-old animals. Several researchers (Kotula et al. 1982; Doornenbal and Murray 1982; Sim and Wellington 1976; Ammerman ef al. 1974) have substantiated that age and feeding regimen can affect the content of minerals in meat tissue.

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WHITETAIL DEER COMPOSITION 273

Table 5 . Comparison of the mean mineral contenta of longissirnus muscle in whitetail deer and beef carcasses.

Mineral Whitetgil Deer Beef Significance Mean t SD Mean ? SD Level

K ( m d d 11.35 1.09 13.17 1.53 0.0013

P (me/g) 8.48 0.34 7.16 0.48 0.0001

Na (mg/g) 2.02 0.32 2.57 0.19 0.0319

Mg ( M / d 918.40 37.11 842.87 56.73 0.0003

Ca ( d g ) 153.27 24.03 211.46 33.88 0.0001

Fe (pg/g) 144.32 48.75 73.22 8.40 0.0002

Zn ( d g ) 78.84 12.20 152.81 16.36 0.0001

cu (!lP/P) 11.23 0.86 3.89 0.51 0.0001

Mn (ug/g) 1.64 0.31 ND - -

a l O O % dry weight, f a t free .

bN=13 for whiteta i l deer and 16 for beef.

‘Beef used for analysis contained 71.7% moisture, 23.2% protein and 4.5% f a t .

ND-Not detectable.

The potential for human food through systematic harvest of game animals is enor- mous. The average lean edible tissue from 15 whitetail deer was 30.75 kg. In 1982, 3 1,149 whitetail deer were harvested in North Dakota and provided nearly one million kg of lean red meat from venison. This amount of lean, at 24% protein, represents the yearly protein requirement for almost 11,500 adult males. Novakowski and Solman (1975) discuss the potential of wildlife as a protein source. Their conclu- sions regarding comparisons of wild game meats to domestic meats are quite idealistic and may be somewhat misleading. They discuss “biomass” of a given wildlife species produced by a given area and imply that the calculated protein percentage of the meat produced by that species multiplied times biomass equals protein yield for that given area. Furthermore, the comparisons by Novakowski and Solman (1975) of wild game meat to beef apparently are for lean tissue for the game and “nonskeletal”

Page 8: CUTABILITY AND NUTRIENT CONTENT OF WHITETAIL DEER

274 M. J . MARCHELLO, P. T. BERG, W. D. SLANGER and R . L. HARROLD

for the beef. (Nonskeletal includes all subcutaneous and seam fat as well as mar- bling.) Such comparisons affect all nutrient composition analysis and vastly bias the comparison in favor of game animals. Therefore, we have compared the nutrient composition of venison from whitetail deer to standard grade beef (Table 2) and showed that their composition varied somewhat. Venison, like beef, has a unique balance of protein, fats and minerals that provides a nearly complete food item in a very concentrated form.

REFERENCES

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WHITETAIL DEER COMPOSITION 215

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