There have been few investigations into the health benefits and meat quality of supplementing Yangzhou geese with paper mulberry silage. One hundred and twenty 28-day-old Yangzhou geese were selected for the experiment and randomly divided into two groups: a control group (CON) and a paper mulberry silage group (PM), with six replicates in each group. The experiment lasted for a total of 6 weeks. The experiment found that compared with CON, PM had a promoting effect on the average daily weight gain of Yangzhou geese (p = 0.056). Sensory and nutritional analysis of breast muscles revealed a decrease in a* value (p < 0.05) and an increase in protein content (p < 0.05) following PM treatment. Through untargeted metabolomics analysis of breast muscle samples, it was found that 11 different metabolites, including guanidinoacetic acid and other substances, had a positive effect on amino acid metabolism and lipid antioxidant pathways of PM treatment. Overall, the strategy of feeding Yangzhou geese with paper mulberry silage is feasible, which can improve the sensory quality and nutritional value of goose meat. The experiment provides basic data for the application form of goose breeding, so exploring the impact of substances within paper mulberry on goose meat should be focused on in the future.
Keywords: carcass characteristic; goose; growth performance; meat quality; paper mulberry.