Govind Kannan

Fort Valley State University | FVSU · College of Agriculture

The magnitude of physiological responses to a stressor can vary among individual goats within a herd; however, whether these differences can differentially affect meat quality is not known. This study was conducted to determine the influence of the magnitude of epinephrine response (ER) to acute stress on muscle metabolome and meat quality in goats...

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of habituation to livestock trailers on stress responses in goats transported for long periods. Intact male Spanish goats (12-month old; BW = 31.6 ± 0.34 kg; N = 168) were separated into two treatment (TRT) groups and maintained on two different paddocks. Concentrate supplement was fed to one g...

Transportation stress causes significant changes in physiological responses in goats; however, studies exploring the transcriptome of stress are very limited. The objective of this study was to determine the differential gene expressions and related pathways in the blood samples using RNA-seq procedure in Spanish goats subjected to different durati...

Abstract Studies exploring the transcriptome of stress and its effects on meat quality are very limited, particularly in goats. Fifty-four male Spanish goats (8-mo old; BW = 29.7 ± 2.03 kg) were randomly subjected to one of three treatments (TRT; n = 18 goats/treatment): (1) transported for 180 min, (2) transported for 30 min, or (3) held in pens (...

Goats raised for meat production are often transported long distances. Twelve-month-old male Spanish goats were used to determine the effects of habituation to trailers on plasma metabolomic profiles when transported for extended periods. In a split-plot design, 168 goats were separated into two treatment (TRT; whole plot) groups and maintained on...

Long distance transportation can cause significant physiological changes in goats that can impact their wellbeing. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of habituation to livestock trailer on plasma catecholamine profile in goats transported for long periods. A total of 168 intact male Spanish goats were separated into two treatmen...

Meat goats are often transported long distances under commercial situations in the US. In a split-plot design, 168 twelve-month-old male Spanish goats were used to determine the effects of habituation to trailers on behavior and stress responses when transported for long periods. Animals were separated into two treatment (TRT) groups and maintained...

Goats raised for meat production are often transported long distances. Twelve-month-old male Spanish goats were used to determine the effects of habituation to trailers on plasma metabolomic profiles when transported for long periods. In a split-plot design, 168 goats were separated into two treatment (TRT; whole plot) groups and maintained on two...

Duration of stress prior to processing can significantly affect physiological status and meat quality in goats. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of duration of preslaughter stress on physiological responses and meat quality in goats. In a Randomized Complete Block Design, fifty-four uncastrated male Spanish goats (8-mo old; BW...

Growing interests in natural and organic meat products have led to increasing application of fruits and vegetables, containing antimicrobial and antioxidant components as natural preservatives, in processed meats. The aim of this study was assessed the utilization of raisin as a natural preservative in goat meat (chevon), and thereby the impacts on...

This study was conducted to determine if excitability score (ES) in goats can influence their physiological responses when subjected to stress. Thirty-six intact male Spanish goats (8-mo-old) were individually weighed and scored for excitability: 1 for calm (13 goats), 2 for moderately excitable (11 goats), and 3 for highly excitable (12 goats). To...

Meat goat farmers have had mixed experiences as to how COVID-19 impacted their businesses. There were disruptions in transportation, selling live animals, and scheduling slaughter and processing for a short period. The primary difficulty faced by farm operations was the inability of meat goat farmers to move goats to market via auction barns or pro...

Goat meat is the main source of animal protein in developing countries, particularly in Asia and Africa. Goat meat consumption has also increased in the US in the recent years due to the growing ethnic population. The digestive tract of goat is a natural habitat for Escherichia coli organisms. While researchers have long focused on postharvest inte...

This study evaluated the effects of pre-slaughter transport stress on the rumen fermentation and bacterial community of growing meat goats. Fifty-four male Spanish growing meat goats (28.9 ± 4.5) were stratified by body weight and randomly assigned into three treatment groups (n = 18 per treatment; 1) No transport stress (CON), 2) Transport stress...

Feeding condensed tannin (CT)-containing diets such as sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) and reducing stress have been reported to improve meat quality and food safety in goats. In a completely randomized design with split-plot, thirty-six uncastrated male Spanish goats were assigned to 3 dietary treatments (n = 12/treatment): ground ‘Serala’ s...

Abstract The effects of high-condensed tannin (CT) diet combined with preslaughter stress have not been studied at the metabolome level in goats. This study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding sericea lespedeza (SL; Lespedeza cuneata), a high-CT legume, and transportation stress on plasma metabolome in goats. Uncastrated male Spanish...

Social isolation can increase distress in goats, particularly when they cannot maintain visual contact with conspecifics. This experiment was conducted to determine the behavioral and physiological responses in goats during isolation with or without visual contact with conspecifics. Male Spanish goats (uncastrated, 8-mo old, average weight 29.4 ± 0...

Social isolation can be stressful to goats when they are separated from the herd for veterinary care or prior to slaughter. This experiment was conducted to determine the behavior responses in goats during isolation with or without visual contact with conspecifics. Forty-eight uncastrated male Spanish goats (8-mo old) were randomly assigned to one...

Transportation conditions can significantly affect physiological status and meat quality in goats. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of duration of preslaughter stress on physiological responses and meat quality in goats. Fifty-four uncastrated male Spanish goats (8-mo old; BW = 29.7 ± 2.03 kg) were randomly subjected to one of...

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of pulsed UV light (PUVL) in inactivating Escherichia coli K12 on goat meat and beef surfaces. Inactivation studies were conducted for 5 to 60 s at three distances from the light source (4.47, 8.28 and 12.09 cm) in the PUVL chamber. Predictive models using regression and artificial neural...

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of feeding high condensed tannin legume (sericea lespedeza, SL; Lespedeza cuneata) forage on gastrointestinal tract microbial counts and meat quality in goats. Intact male Spanish kids were kept in 0.40 ha paddocks of SL, bermudagrass (BG; Cynodon dactylon; Control), or a combination of SL + BG (...

Social isolation can be stressful to goats when they are separated from the herd for veterinary care or prior to slaughter. This experiment was conducted to determine the behavior responses in goats during isolation with or without visual contact with conspecifics. Forty-eight uncastrated male Spanish goats (8-mo old) were randomly assigned to one...

Abstract Transportation conditions can significantly affect physiological status and meat quality in goats. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of duration of preslaughter stress on physiological responses and meat quality in goats. Fifty-four uncastrated male Spanish goats (8-mo old; BW = 29.7 ± 2.03 kg) were randomly subjected...

Feeding condensed tannin (CT)-containing diets and minimizing preslaughter stress have been reported to improve meat quality and food safety in small ruminants. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of feeding sericea lespedeza (SL), a high-CT legume, and transportation stress on gut microbial counts and meat quality in goats. In a c...

Ozonated and electrolyzed water have been reported to have bactericidal activities against most pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms associated with fresh meat and contact surfaces in meat processing facilities at room temperature. However, antimicrobial effects of these two treatments combined are not known. Therefore, the objective of this stud...

Brown seaweed (BSW; Ascophyllum nodosum) extract supplement has been reported to positively affect antioxidant activity, vitamin E status, immune cell response, and carcass characteristics in farm animals. Preharvest diet containing BSW has also been reported to reduce fecal shedding of E. coli and other enteric bacteria in livestock. This review f...

This study was conducted to determine if artificial neural networks (ANN) can be used to more accurately predict physiological stress responses in goats compared with statistical regression. Prediction models were developed for plasma cortisol and glucose concentrations, creatine kinase (CK) activity, neutrophil (N) and lymphocyte (L) counts, and N...

This study was conducted to determine if artificial neural network (ANN) can be used as a nonlinear modeling technique to more accurately predict physiological stress responses in goats due to transportation compared with statistical regression. Data on stress responses were obtained from experiments conducted at Fort Valley State University. Predi...

The objective of this study was to develop artificial neural network (ANN) models for quantifying Escherichia coli K12 (E. coli) inactivation on chevon (goat meat) surface due to ultraviolet-light (UV-C), lemongrass oil (LG), and their combinations. The data used in the ANN model development were obtained from experiments that measured the log red...

Introduction: Several non-thermal treatment combinations are in demand as alternatives to conventional chlorine wash technologies in meat industry. Ultraviolet-light (UV-C), an FDA approved technology resulted in lower log reductions of pathogens in meat due to its inefficiency in penetrating meat. Subsequently, researchers focused on combination t...

This study was conducted to assess the potential of improving tenderness of chevon using calcium chloride (CaCl2) injection and its effect on the palatability characteristics of chevon. Primal leg cuts from meat goats were allotted to one of four treatments: either no injection (control) or injection with water, CaCl2 (food grade, 2.2% w/v), or CaC...

Non-thermal processes are in demand in the meat industry due to their ability to inactivate foodborne pathogens, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, at room temperatures. Although ultraviolet-light (UV-C) is a potential process for eliminating pathogens while preserving the quality of foods, its inefficiency in penetrating solid foods might result in...

Acidic and alkaline electrolyzed water (EW) were investigated for their bactericidal effects when sprayed on the surface of beef, chevon (goat meat), and pork inoculated with Escherichia coli K12. Inoculated meat samples were subjected to different treatment times ranging from 2 to 12 min and enumerated on tryptic soy agar to determine the effectiv...

Gene editing is a tool to be used by molecular researchers, hopefully in consultations with breeders, to enhance the search for improved products and solutions. It joins many other tools used by USDA scientists such as selective breeding, cross breeding, marker assisted selection / genomic selection, as well as transgenic DNA modification technolog...

In recent years, the research in food safety focused on use of novel non-thermal technologies due to the increased outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and consumer concern towards natural processed foods. UV light is one such FDA-approved technique that can be used effectively to inactivate foodborne microorganisms. Ultraviolet light is an Electromagn...

Introduction: Electrolyzed oxidized water is a decontaminant that is produced by passing a dilute salt solution through an electrolytic cell across a bipolar membrane to produce acidic and alkaline water at anode and cathode ends, respectively. Electrolyzed water with its strong oxidation reduction potential inactivates microorganisms by damaging c...

Nonthermal technologies are in demand in meat industry due to their ability to inactivate foodborne pathogens at ambient temperatures. Several nonthermal processes have been used to inactivate Escherichia coli O157:H7 on meat surfaces. However, required higher intensities might alter sensitive characteristics of meat. Thus, combining various non-th...

In spring of 2016, the USDA Science Advisory Council was first charged by the Chief Scientist to examine a number of controversial and challenging issues. The first was to address the general subject of reproducibility in the agricultural and nutrition related sciences. General background reading was assigned to members and first review of the issu...

Food can serve as a growth medium for bacteria if not handled, prepared or stored properly. Primary reason is change in climatic factors, such as temperature, humidity, precipitation patterns, and intensity of extreme weather. It is reported that average global temperature increased by 0.8 °C and might rise by 2 to 5 °C at the end of the decade. Th...

The demand for goat meat in the U.S. is rising due to its greater nutritional value and other health benefits. However, goat meat is susceptible to Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Shigella species, which are major causes of foodborne illness in other red meat. Ozonated water and electrolyzed oxidizing w...

Recent foodborne disease outbreaks and meat recalls demands an urgent attention for safety of muscle foods. Several non-thermal technologies have been used to eliminate foodborne pathogens from food surfaces. Pulsed UV-light is one such potential method that eliminates pathogens while preserving the quality. However, its penetration inefficiency in...

The demand for goat meat in the U.S. is rising due to its greater nutritional value and health benefits. However, goat meat is also susceptible to Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Shigella species, which are the major cause of foodborne illness as seen in red meat. Ozonated water and electrolyzed oxidizi...

Known curing impacts on goat meat (chevon) is limited due to the low production and consumption of chevon products in the US. This study, therefore, assessed sodium nitrite influences on quality parameters of restructured chevon jerky and its stability. Inclusion of NaNO2 increased (P < 0.01) the redness of chevon jerky (14.2 vs. 8.17); however, th...

Goat meat (chevon) consumption has increased in the US primarily due to the growing immigrant population. Chevon preference among mainstream consumers, however, has suffered from the misperception that it is inferior in quality to beef, lamb, or pork. Researchers have studied several pre- and post- slaughter techniques to enhance chevon quality. Th...

Sixteen crossbred buck goats (Kiko x Spanish; BW = 32.8 kg) and wether sheep (Dorset x Suffolk; BW = 39.9 kg) were used to determine the effect of preslaughter diet and feed deprivation time (FDT) on physiological responses and microbial loads on skin and carcasses. Experimental animals were fed either a concentrate (CD) or a hay diet (HD) for 4 d...

The objective of this study was to develop artificial neural network (ANN) models for quantifying Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli) inactivation due to low-voltage electric current on beef surfaces and to compare them with statistical models for their suitability as a tool for online processing by the meat industry. Modeling techniques with optima...

High prevalence of anthelmintic-resistant gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in goats has increased pressure to find effective, alternative non-synthetic control methods, one of which is adding forage of the high condensed tannin (CT) legume sericea lespedeza (SL; Lespedeza cuneata) to the animal's diet. Previous work has demonstrated good efficacy o...

Growing castrated dairy goats (n=20; BW=30±3.3kg) were used in an 82d growing experiment to assess effects of protein and fat levels on performance and splanchnic tissue mass and composition. Animals were individually housed in elevated pens (1.2m×1.2m), stratified by body weight, and randomly assigned to four dietary treatments. In a second experi...

This research assessed the utilization of sericea lespedeza (SL, Lespedeza cuneata ) hay, a highly condensed tannin (CT) forage (87-181 g CT/kg), as a dietary regimen of meat goats, and thereby the effects on physicochemical properties of goat meat (chevon) and flavor compounds in cooked chevon chops were evaluated. Although it is commonly believed...

This book focuses on the most important areas of goat meat production. It is divided into 15 chapters discussing the role of genetics, breeding, reproduction and nutrition in producing good quality, profitable goat meat. The mineral, amino acid and fatty acid composition of goat meat is also addressed, along with a discussion of its nutritive value...

Goat meat (chevon) is attractive to healthconscious consumers because of its lower fat content compared with other traditional red meats. The fatty acid compositions of edible tissues of meat goats are influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as breed, gender, slaughter weight, age, and quality and quantity of feed. Dietary regime is the...

Live animals have been produced recently from animal tissues preserved for decades at frozen temperatures with or without cryoprotectants. However, the tissues in these studies were cryopreserved within few hours of animal death to obtain culturable live cells as nuclear donors. How long the tissues can be left unfrozen after animal death, without...

Low-voltage direct current was applied to beef, inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 on the surface covered with a thin film of 0.15 M NaCl solution. Experiments were conducted with 15, 30, and 45 mA/cm2 currents; 1, 10 and 100 kHz frequencies; 30, 50 and 70% duty cycles, and 2, 8 and 16 min treatment durations. Increase in current intensity, f...

Experiments were conducted using low-voltage alternating current (AC) to inactivate surface adherent Escherichia coli O157:H7 on beef samples. Beef samples (25 × 25 × 25 mm) were inoculated with E. coli and placed in sodium chloride solution which served as an electrolyte. Electrical current (AC) was applied to the beef samples. Frequencies of 1, 1...

Yearling goats (G) and sheep (S) from highland (H) and lowland (L) areas of Ethiopia were used to determine effects of species and origin and lengths of rest and feeding on harvest measures, particularly carcass surface lightness. The H goat used was Arsi-Bale, and the L goat was Somali. The fat-tail indigenous H sheep is thought to be an Arsi-Bale...

The bulk density, unit density, porosity, hardness, gross calorific value, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat at different moisture content were determined for sericea lespedeza (SL, Lespedeza cuneata) pellets. It was observed that most physical properties of the SL pellets were significantly affected by moisture contents...

This research assessed the potential use of a low input forage containing a high amount of condensed tannins (CT) to reduce foodborne pathogens prior to slaughter of meat goats. In a completely randomized design, twenty Kiko×Spanish intact male kids (BW=19.2±0.74kg) were fed ground sericea lespedeza [SL; Lespedeza cuneata (Dum-Cours) G. Don; 2 pens...

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary treatments on microbial loads and pH of gastrointestinal tract contents in meat goats, as well as the concentration of volatile fatty acid (VFA) in the rumen. Crossbred (Boer x Spanish) goats (n=36; BW=17.7 kg) were assigned randomly to one of three experimental diets (n=12/diet or 3...

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) parasitism is the greatest threat to economic sheep and goat production in the southern USA, and there is widespread prevalence of GIN resistance to broad-spectrum anthelmintics in this region. A natural alternative for controlling GIN in small ruminants is feeding hay of sericea lespedeza [SL, Lespedeza cuneata (Du...

Sheep (BW=39.9kg, n=16) and goats (BW=32.8kg, n=16) were used in a completely randomized design to determine the effect of short-term pre-slaughter diet and feed deprivation (FD) time on pH and microbial loads in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) contents. In a 2×2×2 factorial treatment arrangement, the main effects of species, diet, and FD time pri...

Previous research has shown that diet and feed deprivation time prior to slaughter can influence the fecal shedding of bacteria in goats. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of feed deprivation time (FDT) on skin and carcass bacterial counts. Thirty-two Boer × Spanish goats (BW = 18.8 ± 0.82 kg) were randomly assigned to one of 4...

An IUL Flash & Go automated colony counter was used to enumerate E. coli (ATCC 700728) colonies and its performance was compared with manual counting on spiral plates. A total of 85 plates were analyzed. Linear regression analysis and the log differences between the manual and automated counts were determined. The results were analyzed to evaluate...

Electrical stimulation (ES) has been reported to improve meat quality, but the effects of postmortem ES have not been fully characterized in goats. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of postmortem ES on meat quality in two breeds of goats. Uncastrated Spanish and crossbreds (Boer×Spanish females×Kiko male) yearlings (n=10/breed,...

Goat production is increasing in the United States due to high ethnic demand, but infection with gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) parasites is a major constraint to the industry. Increasing GIN resistance to chemical anthelmintics worldwide has led to the development of alternative control strategies, including use of forages containing condensed ta...

Sixteen mature dairy Alpine goat bucks (51±7kg) were selected and fed a concentrate diet (2.9Mcal/kg, DE) for 3 wk to maintain their body weight. They were then stratified by BW and randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Treatment 1 bucks (n=8) were fed at maintenance for two consecutive periods of 21 d each while treatment 2 animals (n=8) were...

Thirty-six Boer×Spanish intact male goats (BW=18±0.8kg; age 4 months) were used to determine the effects of dietary treatments on the chemical composition and quality characteristics of goat meat (chevon). Animals were allotted to three treatment groups (n=12/treatment) with three pens for each treatment. Each pen of four goats was fed one of three...

This experiment was conducted to compare the chemical composition and quality characteristics of chevon and lamb from animals raised under similar conditions. Crossbred goats (n=16) and lambs (n=16) raised under the same management conditions were slaughtered using standard procedures. After 24h of cooler storage (2°C), each carcass was fabricated...

A feed supplement containing brown seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) extract may increase anti-oxidant activity in other domestic animals, but its effect on goats has not been studied. Mature female Spanish (S) and Boer×Spanish (BS) crosses (BW=39kg, n=20/breed) were housed in pens (5does/pen) and fed alfalfa pellets, supplemented either with or withou...

Brown seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) extract supplementation has been reported to have several beneficial effects in farm animals, but its effects during stressful situations have not been adequately studied. Female Spanish (S) (mean body weight 40.1±5.9kg) and Boer×Spanish (BS) (mean weight 38.5±4.5kg) goats (8 to 10 months; n=20/breed) were housed...

Preslaughter management procedures that decrease fecal contamination of skins/hides are likely to reduce biological hazards on carcass surfaces during slaughter and processing. This trial was conducted to determine the effects of preslaughter spray-washing on stress responses and skin and carcass bacterial counts in goats. Twenty meat goats were sl...

Infection with gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), particularly Haemonchus contortus, is the biggest constraint to profitable goat production in the United States (US). Due to widespread prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in goat GIN, alternative, non-chemical control methodologies are needed to increase profitability of small ruminant industries....

Proximate composition and fatty-acid profile including conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) were determined in milk and longissimus dorsi (LD) muscles of small ruminants. Milk from crossbred (Dorset × Suffolk) ewes contained significantly higher levels of protein, fat and ash than those from Nubian goats. In LD muscles, the ash content in Boer goats wa...

The objectives of this study were to determine effects of different dietary treatments and postmortem aging on meat quality characteristics in goats. Twenty castrated dairy goats (BW=30.7±6.80kg, age 10 months) were subjected to one of four dietary treatments for 82 days (treatment): (i) 2.5Mcal/kg DM DE and 12% CP, (ii) 2.5Mcal/kg DM DE and 18% CP...

Growing female Alpine goats (n = 14; 6 month of age; BW of 18 ± 2.7kg) were used in a 10-week experiment to assess the effect of daily injection of a low dose (40μg/kg of BW) of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) on blood metabolite concentrations, mass of the visceral organs, the calpain system, and chevon quality. Goats were randomly assigned...