NUTRIENT COMPOSITION AND VALUE OF SELECTED GAME MEAT: A REVIEW

Abstract

Now days people consider game meat to be healthier and safe products, and therefore associate to healthier and tasty meat arising from game animals. Because of this an overview is presented on the global human usage of unconventional animal species (ungulates, lagomorphs, other landed wild mammals and birds) that are hunted for human consumptions. The nutritional values of these species is discussed, focusing on their potentials for food security. One of the most valuable foods is meat, due to its nutritional value, largely determined by the essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, etc. The importance of wildlife to local communities is now globally recognized in community-based. The results presented in this review are mostly on the proximate and biochemical composition of some selected species of game animals. Warthog and domestic pig meat was compared, where warthog presented a higher (74.04,1.69, 22.14 and 1.29, for moisture, total lipids, proteins and ash respectively) values (Table 2). Likewise, macro and micronutrient in domestic pigs and wild boars was also reviewed (Tables 8&9). The results showed that K and Ca values (11239.00a and 208a ) in wild boars was significantly (P<0.05 )higher than in domestic pigs. Micronutrient in wild boars shows significant (P<0.05) differences, with levels of Fe, Zn and Cu higher (136, 91 and 90.3% respectively) above that of domestic pigs. Chemical composition of Hartebeest was also compared in different regions and among sex (Table 3), where values for nutrient compositions did not differ except ash content for sex, where females exhibit higher (1,3±0.18) value than in males(1.2±0.20).Chemical compositions in ostrich was found to be higher than in beef and chicken particularly for fat content (0.90-1.34%)(Table 10).It was also observed among all the animals species studied that cholesterol levels ranges between 64.41-95.01 mg/100g in both fat and muscles (Table 13).The review therefore highlights not only the economic importance of wildlife, through consumptive and non-consumptive uses, but also present the potentials of nutritional value.