SOUZA, J. G.; SOUZA, Joyce Galvão de.
Resumo:
The increased demand for meat from wild animals, for human consumption, as an alternative
protein source, brings with it the need for research that demonstrates the quality of products. In
the slaughter line, knowledge of the normal anatomy of the lymph nodes and their location is
essential to assess the health of the carcass, being the first step in assessing the animal. Aiming
to collaborate with the already existing knowledge, this project aimed to provide subsidies for
the evaluation of the sanitary quality and the evaluation of the meat of collectors. 14 animals
were used, six males and eight females, aged 4 to 5 months from the breeding stock of the
Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid. Two female cadavers were formed to identify and
describe the lymphatic centers. In the remaining 12 animals, after euthanasia by slaughtering
techniques for goats, samples of the meat surface were collected through sterile swabs at the
points of ham, loin, belly and armpit, and then lymph nodes from different lymphatic centers
were collected for production of histological slides. The maximum mesophilic count found was
1.9 x 103. The total coliform and thermotolerant coliform counts were below what was
determined in the legislation for meat from domestic animals, however, through biochemical
tests the presence of biotype E. coli was detected. 1 and biotype 2 in 7 and 6 samples,
respectively. Search results for Salmonella spp. were negative in all samples and as for
Staphylococcus, only one sample had a count above the legal limit. The topography of the
lymph nodes in the leg is similar to that of the domestic swine, possibly because of its
phylogenetic relationship, but the amount differs in some centers, with the lymph centers of the
leg composed of one or a few lymph nodes, different from the swine that has several. Regarding
the morphology of the lymph nodes of the catheter, they were similar to the other animals, with
the presence of cortex, paracortex and medulla. However, the presence of red blood cells was
observed at the corticomedullary junction, indicating that it may have mixed circulation of
lymph and blood, and that it may have a function similar to other lymphatic organs such as
hematoid and spleen nodules.