Goat Tallow

TYPICAL: subcutaneous adipose tissue of Arbas cashmere goats, control group - Jiang, Zhao, Zhang, Zhang, Guo, Guo & Yan, Animals 16(7):1097 (2026), Table 3, column CON (8 goats slaughtered; weaned kids 120 +/- 10 days old at the start, 14 days' adaptation and 90 days on a basal concentrate-roughage diet, so about 7 months old at slaughter; experimental farm of Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China); FAME on a 100 m SP-2560 column with FID, external-standard quantification; % of total fatty acids: C10:0 0.508, C12:0 0.502, C13:0 0.211, C14:0 4.260, C15:0 0.860, C16:0 29.882, C17:0 3.018, C18:0 20.671, C20:0 0.428, C21:0 1.085, C22:0 0.269, C14:1 0.217, C15:1 0.138, C16:1 1.773, C17:1 1.269, C18:1n9t 0.168, C18:1n9c 26.913, C20:1 0.249, C24:1 0.145, C18:3n3 1.141, C20:3n3 0.147, C20:5n3 0.163, C22:6n3 0.181, C18:2n6t 0.155, C18:2n6c 3.647, C18:3n6 0.201, C20:2n6 0.180, C20:3n6 0.147, C20:4n6 0.401, C22:2n6 0.139; SFAs 61.872, MUFAs 31.247, PUFAs 6.522 (the printed acids sum to 99.07). The paper's C20:1 is a single total, mapped to gadoleic as the Codex-based records do; C22:2n6 is mapped to docosadienoic. MIN/MAX add the control-diet adipose depots of Boer crossbred bucks in Malaysia - Adeyemi, Ebrahimi, Samsudin, Sabow & Sazili, J. Anim. Sci. Technol. 57:42 (2015), Tables 8-11, column 0 % oil (8 goats per diet, 4-5 months old at the start and fed 100 days on a diet half oil-palm fronds; slaughtered in a commercial abattoir; Folch extraction, BF3 methylation, GC with a C21:0 internal standard; % of total FA), omental / perirenal / mesenteric / subcutaneous: C14:0 5.55/6.02/6.67/5.64, C16:0 26.67/23.44/27.06/25.52, C16:1n-7 2.94/2.94/3.49/3.57, C18:0 31.24/40.18/26.10/22.07, C18:1n-9 24.99/17.69/19.97/24.15, C18:1 trans-11 (vaccenic) 4.77/4.27/3.48/3.15, CLA cis-9 trans-11 0.96/0.80/1.30/1.25, CLA trans-10 cis-12 0.29/0.36/1.54/1.88, C18:2n-6 3.14/3.52/3.63/3.05, C18:3n-3 0.17/0.27/1.56/2.04, C20:4n-6 0.11/0.08/1.89/2.60, C20:5n-3 0.08/0.76/1.87/2.80, C22:5n-3 0.20/0.15/1.42/1.63, C22:6n-3 0.15/0.11/1.92/1.78 (only these 14 acids were reported and the rows sum to 100.6-101.9, so each share is somewhat high; the long-chain n-3 and n-6 acids reported for mesenteric and subcutaneous fat, EPA 1.87-2.80 % and DHA 1.78-1.92 %, are unusually high for ruminant adipose fat - they have no key and do not enter the record, but they are a reason to read this table with caution). BOUNDS: myristic 4.260 (Arbas) - 6.67 (Boer mesenteric); palmitic 23.44 (Boer perirenal) - 29.882 (Arbas); palmitoleic 1.773 (Arbas) - 3.57 (Boer subcutaneous); stearic 20.671 (Arbas) - 40.18 (Boer perirenal); oleic 17.69 (Boer perirenal) - 26.913 (Arbas); linoleic 3.05 (Boer subcutaneous) - 3.647 (Arbas); linolenic 0.17 (Boer omental) - 2.04 (Boer subcutaneous). Capric, lauric, gamma-linolenic (C18:3n6), arachidic, gadoleic, behenic and docosadienoic come from the Arbas table only. Kidney (perirenal) fat is the hardest depot - 40.18 % stearic against 22.07 % in the subcutaneous fat of the same Boer goats - so goat tallow rendered from suet is much firmer than one rendered from trim. NOT MAPPED (Arbas): C13:0 0.211, C15:0 0.860, C17:0 3.018, C21:0 1.085, C14:1 0.217, C15:1 0.138, C17:1 1.269, elaidic acid (C18:1n9t) 0.168, C24:1 0.145, C20:3n3 0.147, C20:5n3 0.163, C22:6n3 0.181, C18:2n6t 0.155, C20:2n6 0.180, C20:3n6 0.147, C20:4n6 0.401 - 8.49 % in all, the odd-chain acids typical of ruminant fat. The mapped typical profile therefore sums to 90.58 %, below the 95 % the derived-saponification estimator needs, so this record is reference only until a measured saponification value is found. NO SAPONIFICATION OR IODINE VALUE: neither paper measured one, and every document found that characterises rendered goat tallow could not be opened - 'Optimization of Biodiesel Production from Goat Tallow Using Alkaline Catalysts ...', Chem. Chem. Technol. 12(1):120 (2018; DOI 10.23939/chcht12.01.120 - the publisher's old host did not respond and its new site has no copy); 'Laundry Soap Production from the Respective Tallows of Goat, Sheep and Cow', Int. Res. J. Pure Appl. Chem. 22(3) (2021; DOI 10.9734/irjpac/2021/v22i330393, not openly accessible); 'Differential Scanning Calorimetry Analysis of Goat Fats', J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. (2009; DOI 10.1007/s11746-009-1420-5, paywalled); waste goat tallow biodiesel, Applied Energy (2013; DOI 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.04.025, paywalled). Opened and not usable: Farizah & Nityasree, J. Environ. Biol. 40(4) (2019; goat tallow biodiesel) - its GC-MS names pentadecanoic and octadecadienoic acids as the main components without percentages, which is neither a composition nor credible for goat fat; Andualem et al., Sci. Rep. 16:16502 (2026) - soap from 'animal tallow' from butchers in Bahir Dar, species not stated, so not goat. Melting point and unsaponifiable matter not sourced. Both analyses are of young goats (about 7-9 months at slaughter); fat from mature goats, which is what is usually rendered, is likely to be harder. INCI is CosIng's entry for Goat Fat ('the fat obtained from goats'); CosIng gives it no CAS or EC number.

This record is part of the open ingredient database (ODbL). Found an error or a better primary source? The dataset is on GitHub; corrections with a document link are welcome.