Saturday, March 30, 2024

Velvet quality keeps improving

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Velvet quality is higher now than in the past 30 years and deer farmers should be rightly proud of what they have achieved, Deer Industry New Zealand chief executive Innes Moffat says. But better quality aside, with demand and prices beginning to plateau the industry is not looking for new producers to enter the fray.
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The velvet produced now contains more of the lipids and proteins linked to the bioactivity of deer velvet products and their values as natural foods.

Moffat said farmers have made huge efforts to improve the quality of all aspects of velvet production.

“Stag genetics, welfare and nutrition are light years ahead of where they were 30 years ago.

“Harvest hygiene and cool chain improvements ensure quality is maintained all the way from the stag to the processor.”

A scientific study led by AgResearch scientist Stephen Haines and funded by the deer industry and AgResearch analysed velvet antler harvested from Red and Elk-Wapiti in the 2018-19 season.

The results compared with a 1991 study showed the average velvet antler today is of higher quality than the best of the antlers analysed in the earlier study.

The valuable upper portion of the antler made up 25% more of the whole antler than it did in 1991.

Overall lipids increased by 4% and proteins by 25%. 

“The impressive progress deer farmers have made increasing antler size has been matched by equally impressive improvements in velvet composition,” Haines said.

The study also showed industry standards, which are based on market preference, are scientifically valid.

Velvet cut at the correct time is higher in lipids and low molecular weight proteins linked to the bioactivity of velvet, than velvet cut seven days and 14 days later than the industry standard.

Velvet is a cornerstone, along with ginseng, of traditional Chinese and Korean medicine with a reputation going back thousands of years.

It has also been the subject of several scientific studies that Moffat said indicate velvet-based products might have a role in reducing arthritic pain, healthy brain ageing, lowering blood pressure, wound healing and recovery from intense physical exertion.

“The deer industry hopes that the results of these trials will pique the interest of organisations with the resources needed to fund proper randomised clinical trials,” Moffat said.

Health food companies in Korea have in the past few years developed a range of velvet-based products for new generations of consumers.

“One popular product is formulated for students to provide an energy boost during busy exam times.

“Building immune function and combatting fatigue are other functions that attract consumers to these cotemporary products.

“These new products have greatly expanded the market for velvet during the past decade but demand and prices now appear to have plateaued, which means we’re not looking for new producers to enter the industry,” Moffat said.

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