Preliminary Evaluation of Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotopes for Discriminating Korean Native Black Goat Meat from Australian Boer Goat Meat

This study evaluated the potential of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope profiles for discriminating Korean native black goat (KNBG) meat from Australian Boer goat (AG) meat. Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscles from KNBG and AG (n = 5 per group) were analyzed for Total carbon (C), δ¹³C, Total nitrogen (N), and δ¹⁵N using an elemental analyzer–isotope ratio mass spectrometry. KNBG showed significantly higher Total C and δ¹³C values but lower Total N and δ¹⁵N values than AG (adjusted p < 0.05). Principal component analysis clearly separated the two groups along PC1, which explained 82.8% of the total variance. Within this preliminary dataset (n = 5 per group), linear discriminant analysis using δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N correctly classified all samples under leave-one-out cross-validation. These results provide preliminary evidence that carbon and nitrogen stable isotope profiles may be useful for discriminating KNBG from AG meat. However, larger and more diverse sample sets and independent validation are required to establish a robust origin authentication approach.