Abstracts of 2nd Iberic Rabbit Congress. VILA REAL PORTUGAL JUNE 2007

Abstract

s of the “2ND IBERIC RABBIT CONGRESS” ASESCU Vila Real, Portugal. 5 6 June, 2007 Meat quality and body composition WATER HOLDING CAPACITY AND PH OF THE HUNTED WILD RABBIT MEAT. GO N Z A L E ZREDONDO P., CAMACHO T., ALCALDE M.J. Dpto. Ciencias Agroforestales, EUITA, Univ. de Sevil la, Sevilla, pedro@us.es Percentage of released water (PRW) of the Longissimus dorsi (LD) and pH of the LD and Biceps femoris (BF) muscles were measured in 53 (49% males) wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus cuniculus). The pH of LD and BF muscle were 5.96 and 6.03, respectively. Both pH values were positively correlated (r=0.861; P<0.001), being the pH of BF muscle higher (P=0.001). There were no differences between sexes in the pH of both muscles. There were negative correlations between the eviscerated weight of the rabbits and the pH of the LD and BF muscles (r=0.322; P=0.019). PRW from LD muscle was 17.98%, without differences neither between sexes nor due to the eviscerated weight of the rabbits. PRW and pH of LD muscle show a negative correlation (r=-0.433; P=0.001). Both muscles pH values, mainly the one of LD muscle, and PRW of LD muscle, that is described in this paper for the fist time in wild rabbits, were higher in wild rabbits than the described for meat breeds in the literature. These parameters showed comparatively the same tendencies between them, and showed the same influence of the sex and weight that those described for meat breeds in the literature. _______________________________________________________________________________________ RABBIT CARCASS CHEMICAL COMPOSITION PREDICTED BY REAL TIME ULTRASONOGRAPHY. SILVA S.R., GUEDES C., MOURAO J., PINHEIRO V. CECAVUniv. de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Dpt. Zootec., VilaReal, Portugal. ssilva@utad.pt Ultrasonic measurements were taken on 52 rabbits using a real time ultrasound (RTU) machine equipped with a 7.5 MHz. Measurements of area, depth, width and perimeter Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle were taken at the 5th lumbar vertebra to estimate rabbit chemical carcass composition. Estimates based on RTU muscle measurements allow to explain a large amount of variation (r2 between 0.51 and 0.94; P<0.001) of carcass chemical composition. The results suggest that is possible to estimate rabbit carcass composition from in vivo RTU measurements. _______________________________________________________________________________________ STUDY OF BODY COMPOSITION OF RABBIT DOES BY MEANS OF BIOELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE. PART I: BODY COMPOSITION AND IMPEDANCE RESULTS. PEREDA 1 N., REBOLLAR1 P.G., SCHWARZ1 B.F., ARIAS-ALVAREZ2 M., REVUELTA2 L., LORENZO2 P.L., NICODEMUS1 N. 1Dpt. Prod. Animal, ETSIA, Univ. Poli tecnica de Madrid. 2Dpt. Fisiologia Animal, Fac. de Veterinaria, Univ. Complutense de Madrid, Madrid. pilar.grebollar@upm.es. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the bioelectrical impedance technique (BIA) to estimate in vivo body composition of reproductive rabbit does. Eighty seven female rabbits (New Zealand x Californian, weight range: 3173-5736 g) at different physiological states were used: Pregnant and lactating (GL), pregnant and not lactating (GNL), lactating and not pregnant (LNG), not pregnant and not lactating (NGNL) and nulliparous (NUL). A four terminal body composition analyser (model Quantum II, Q 1174 II, RJL Systems, Clinton Twp. MI USA) was used to determine resistance and reactance values. After BIA assessment (five times), animals were slaughtered and stored at -20o C