The effects of sex and production systems on carcass yield, meat quality and proximate composition of sub-adult impala were evaluated by culling 35 impala from intensive (12 males) and semi-extensive (12 males and 11 females) production systems within the same game farm. While no sexual dimorphism was found for carcass weights, male impala had a higher dressing percentage than females, indicating a higher meat production potential. Few differences were observed for yields between the male impala from the different production systems, but physical meat quality parameters indicated possible stress for those kept intensively. Minor differences existed in physiochemical parameters between various impala muscles for the two sexes and production systems, providing little motivation for these factors to be considered when processing sub-adult impala carcasses. Impala meat from both sexes, all muscles and all production systems produced meat with shear force values below 43 N, and thus may be considered as tender. Furthermore, the proximate composition of all impala meat in this study ranged from 74.7 to 77.0 g/100g moisture, 20.7 to 23.5 g/100g protein, 1.2 to 2.2 g/100g fat and 1.1 to 1.3 g/100g ash content. These values compare favorably to other game species, indicating that impala meat may serve as a lean protein source.

Antelope meat production is rapidly growing, not only due to their adaptation to marginal land usage, but also because of its favorable nutritional properties and free-range production. However, limited information is available on the meat quality and processing potential of game meat for commercial consumption. The objective of this study was to determine the ageing period to achieve maximum tenderness of longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles of impala. The LTL muscles of 11 male and 11 female impala were harvested, and divided into eight portions. Each portion was randomly allocated to 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14 days of wet-ageing (4 °C) in vacuum packaging. The meat pH, color, weep loss, cooking loss, and Warner–Bratzler shear force were measured throughout ageing. Initially the ageing profile differed depending on the sex of the animal from which the muscle was harvested; however, after 8 days of ageing, maximum tenderness was reached (13.5 ± 0.91 N) and no further sex differences were seen. Ageing improved the surface color of all meat until day 8, after which discoloration occurred. Therefore, it is recommended that impala LTL steaks should be wet-aged at 4 °C for eight days to achieve maximum tenderness and minimize sex variability.

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of three production systems (intensive, semi-extensive and extensive) with differing nutrition on the descriptive sensory and fatty acid profiles of sub-adult (±15–18 months old) male impala longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles. The discriminant analysis plot showed that extensively produced impala had a sensory profile distinct from the intensive and semi-extensive system impala. Extensively produced impala had the highest sensory ratings for overall intensity, gamey, beef-like, herbaceous, and sweet-associated aroma and flavor of their meat. The intensive and semi-extensive system impala did not differ for most of the sensory attributes, except for higher ratings for gamey flavor, liver-like flavor, tenderness and mealiness, and lower ratings for residue found in semi-extensive system impala. The overall aroma and flavor intensities of impala meat in general had strong positive correlations with gamey, beef-like, herbaceous, and sweet-associated aromas and flavors; however, marketing should be adjusted depending on the nutrition received by the impala, to allow consumers to select their preferential sensory profile. Impala meat from all three production systems had low fat contents (<2%), and desirable fatty acid profiles.