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Simple Summary: Nutritional and organoleptic traits are important components of the meat industry, which can affect consumers' purchasing desire and the processing of meat quality. This study evaluated the effect of feeding system on the muscle fiber characteristics, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat. It was found that the feeding system had great effect on muscle fiber composition, antioxidant capacity, nutritional value, and organoleptic traits of goat meat, but compared with grazing on mountain range (whole area with about 40% inclination), grazing on flatland (whole area with about 0% inclination) improved the meat nutritional value and quality by altering the myofiber characteristic and antioxidative status. This study assists us in comprehending the influence of diverse feeding systems on nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat so as to develop more appropriate measures to retain superior quality of goat meat and provide basic data for the development of goat meat products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding system on muscle fiber composition, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat. Goats that grazed on flatland (whole area with about 0% inclination, FG group) and mountain range (whole area with about 40% inclination, MG group) were selected for the analysis. The results showed that grazing on flatland increased oxidized-twitch fiber percentage, the expression of the MyHC IIa gene (p < 0.001), the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) (p < 0.05), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (p = 0.001), and radical scavenging ability (RSA) (p < 0.05); meanwhile, the MyHC IIb gene expression (p < 0.01) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content (p = 0.001) were decreased. Feeding system affected nutritional and organoleptic traits of goat meat, and grazing on flatland increased protein content, total content of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), pH45min, a* value, and variety of volatile flavor compounds but decreased the content of saturated fatty acid (SFA), shear force, and b* value. In addition, the key flavor substances were screened using relative odor activity value (ROAV), including hexanal, heptanal, (E)-2-octenal, octanal, nonanal, decanal, (E)-2-nonenal, and 1-octen-3-ol. Among them, 1-octen-3-ol and (E)-2-nonenal were the most contributing flavor compounds in the FG and MG groups, respectively, providing distinctive odor to goat meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This manuscript investigated the effects of different feeding regimes on antioxidant activity, meat quality, fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation, and volatile matter production in the longissimus thoracis muscle of Sunit sheep during postmortem aging. It was found that pasture-fed sheep had better oxidative stability, meat quality, and fatty acid composition. At the same time, aging affected the oxidative stability, meat quality, and fatty acid composition of sheep meat, which in turn had an impact on the flavor composition of sheep meat. Aging also eliminates the differences caused by different feeding regimes to a certain extent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding regimes and aging time on the meat quality of sheep and to provide meat professionals with a theoretical basis that can be applied in practical production. It also accelerated the transition from traditional grazing to indoor rearing to maintain ecological balance. The effects of different feeding regimes on antioxidant activity, meat quality, fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation, and volatile matter production in the longissimus thoracis (LT) of Sunit sheep at 0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h postmortem were investigated. The results showed that the activity of antioxidant enzymes, tenderness, water retention, and percentage of unsaturated fatty acids were significantly higher in the pasture-fed sheep (PF) than in the concentrate-fed sheep (CF) (p < 0.05). During postmortem aging, antioxidant activity, water retention, and the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids decreased in the PF and CF (p < 0.05), while malondialdehyde (MDA) content, the proportion of saturated fatty acids, and the content of flavor substances resulting from fat oxidation increased. After 24 h of LT muscle aging, the pH and shear force of the meat started to increase and the color stabilized. The differences between shear force values and lipid volatile flavor substance content of sheep meat under different feeding regimes disappeared with increasing aging time. PF had better oxidative stability and fatty acid composition. Postmortem aging changed the oxidative stability of sheep meat, thus affecting meat quality and fatty acid composition and consequently meat flavor composition, while aging also eliminated to some extent the differences caused by feeding regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]