Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated over 10,000 years ago and are part of human societies since the beginning of agriculture. Goats play a major role both in commercial farming systems and in subsistence agriculture systems, particularly in tropical, subtropical and Mediterranean regions where they are crucial for the supply of meat, milk, fibre and dung. This review concerns the Serrana breed, the most important and numerous indigenous goat breed from Portugal that was furthermore exported to other regions of the world, notably South America during the Portuguese colonization. Herein, we describe the origin and history of the breed as well as the productive performance and most common production systems. Finally, we address the local and traditional PDO (protected denomination of origin) and PGI (protected geographical indication) that are produced from these animals.
Keywords: Dairy goat; Goat ecotypes; Longhaired goat; PDO and PGI goat cheeses and kid meat.