Greta Geldenhuys and colleagues at the University of Stellenbosch have investigated the nutritional value of cooked Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) meat, comparing it with other well-known fowl species in a paper published in Poultry Science.

They report that there is no scientific research on Egyptian goose and so they describe a chemical analysis to establish the nutritional characteristics of the breast portion.

Meat from guineafowl, Pekin duck, ostrich and broiler chicken were used as a reference.

The high intramuscular fat content of Egyptian goose meat (5.6g per 100g) may be linked to the fact that this species relies on fat for heat insulation and buoyancy.

Egyptian goose meat is very high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; 39.7 per cent). The polyunsaturated fatty acid:saturated fatty acid ratio is within the recommendations (above 0.4), although the n-6:n-3 ratio is higher than the suggested value of 5.

The high iron content of 7.5mg per 100g is the differentiating factor within the mineral compositions and is related to the physical activity endured by the breast muscle of Egyptian geese.

The research group concluded that their study provides new insight into the nutritional characteristics of a meat species providing crucial information that is, as of yet, not available in the literature.

Reference

Geldenhuys G., L.C. Hoffman and N. Muller. 2013. Aspects of the nutritional value of cooked Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) meat compared with other well-known fowl species. Poult. Sci. 92(11):3050-3059. doi: 10.3382/ps.2013-03342