CONSUMER PREFERENCES, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS AND SENSORY EVALUATION OF MEAT OF FOUR GUINEA FOWL GENOTYPES IN THE TRANSITIONAL ZONE OF ASHANTI REGION, GHANA

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate consumer preferences for different Guinea fowl genotypes, the effects of genotypes on carcass characteristics and biochemical composition of meat. The study also aimed at investigating the effects of genotype on sensory attributes of meat. This study was divided into 3 phases. In phase one, sales of Guinea fowls and administration of questionnaires to consumers, retailers, producers and processors were made in one Municipal (Asante Mampong) and one district (Ejura/sekyere dumase district) in Ashanti Region. A total of 82 birds made up of Pearl, Lavender, Black and White were sold. In the second phase, a total of 16 male Guinea fowls consisting of 4 each of the genotypes were slaughtered for carcass and biochemical analysis. The third phase entailed determination of sensory attributes of cooked meat samples from the four genotypes. The second and third phases were conducted at the Poultry Unit of Department of Animal Science. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007 for consumer preferences and Genstat Release 11.1 (Windows) for carcass and sensory analysis. There were no price differences for Guinea fowl genotypes sold for consumption except for ritual purposes where the White and Black genotypes were priced twice higher than the normal price, because of the scarcity of the two. Ninety-eight percent (98%) of respondents had no preferences for any particular genotype meat. Sales of Guinea fowls at Christmas recorded 76% higher than the pre-Christmas which recorded relatively lower sales of 24%, indicating that Guinea fowls are highly consumed during the festive periods in the research areas. Guinea fowl genotype did not influence (p˃0.05) primal cuts and giblet weights. There was also no statistical effects (p˃0.05) of Guinea fowl genotypes on biochemical properties of carcass. Data revealed no significant (p˃0.05) differences between sensory characters (aroma, juiciness, flavour and tenderness) of Guinea fowl genotypes. However, there was a significant (p˂0.05) difference between meat colour of genotypes. This study therefore concludes that, all the genotypes could be preferred by consumers if made available, therefore, breeders should concentrate on the production of the White, Lavender and Black Guinea fowls for commercial production. Sustainability of these genotypes will also be achieved to prevent extinction as these are not as common as the Pearl. Further research to elucidate comparable advantage of any one of the genotypes is suggested to give major attention to the specific one.