Carcass characteristics and nutritional profile of wild Caiman crocodilus (Spectacled Caiman) meat

Developing standardized primal, sub-primal and commercial cuts, yield standards, and nutritional value for the Caiman crocodilus are vital in the process of developing a market for the animals’ consumption. This study aims to describe the carcass characteristics and the nutritional profile of wild caught C. crocodilus found in Trinidad and Tobago. Five adult C. crocodilus specimens were captured with an average weight and length of 28.04 ± 11.06 kg, 139.40 ± 16.32 cm respectively. Through carcass fabrication, a dressing percentage of 55.38 ± 1.8% was found and five primal cuts consisting of a neck, torso/rib cage, front leg with shoulder blade, back leg, and tail were determined for this species. Further fabrication of the carcass resulted in four sub-primal cuts, a top fillet, bottom fillet, loin, and breast cut. The fabricated tail of C. crocodilus constituted 28.32 ± 4.50% of the carcass weight with the highest meat to bone ratio by cut of 6.43. The results of the proximate analysis to determine the moisture, protein, lipid, and ash content of a homogenized sample of neck and tail meat presented values of 75.31 ± 3.03, 21.36 ± 4.07, 6.00 ± 5.40, and 0.25 ± 0.03 respectively on a dry matter basis. Based on these carcass characteristics and nutritional profile, this study can be used to justify further exploration into the use of C. crocodilus as an alternative meat source.