Abstract
Simple SummaryThe rabbit farming industry has gained more interest due to its high productivity, high growth rate, and high-quality meat. One of the public health concerns is that global rabbit production is expected to increase to meet the increasing demand for lean meat. In the present study, we focused on the use of phytogenic feed additives (essential oils of rosemary (REO) and ginger (GEO)) as environmentally friendly supplementation to improve rabbit growth performance, physiological status, and meat quality. The results indicated that the use of REO and GEO at a dose of 0.5% dramatically improved the growth performance and feed utilization of treated rabbits. The cholesterol level decreased significantly in rabbit plasma and meat after REO and GEO treatments. The fat content tended to decline in the muscles and the triglycerides were remarkedly reduced in the plasma of treated animals. In addition, the oxidant/antioxidant balance in the plasma could be improved with supplementation with a high dose of REO and GEO. Accordingly, the use of REO and GEO as supplementations for growing rabbits could contribute to improving the sustainable production of the rabbit industry.This study was conducted to assess the impacts of using two essential oils, rosemary and ginger, on growing rabbits’ performance, carcass traits, meat composition, blood biochemicals, and the redox status of growing New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. A total of 120 unsexed NZW rabbits, 42-days-old, were assigned randomly to five experimental groups (n = 24, 6 replicates with 4 rabbits each). The first group received a basal diet (control), the second to fifth groups were dietary supplemented daily with rosemary essential oil (REO) and ginger essential oil (GEO) at doses of 0.25 and 0.5% for each supplementation (REO-0.25, REO-0.5, GEO-0.25, and GEO-0.5), respectively. The growth traits were studied for 7 weeks, from the 7th to the 13th week of the rabbits’ age. The results revealed that final body weight, weight gain, and average daily gain increased significantly (p < 0.01) in the REO-0.5 and GEO-0.5 treatments compared to the control group. Daily feed intake decreased (p = 0.005) in essential oil treatments. Meanwhile, the feed conversion ratio improved significantly (p = 0.001) in REO and GEO at the high doses compared to the control group. The weight percentages of liver and giblets increased (p < 0.001) with both treatments of REO and GEO compared to the control group. The dietary supplementation with REO and GEO did not affect (p > 0.05) the meat composition of Longissimus dorsi and hind leg muscles. Meanwhile, REO and GEO supplementation significantly decreased cholesterol levels in the rabbit meat. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance concentrations decreased by 10 and 15% in the meat of REO-0.5 and GEO-0.5 treatments, respectively, compared to the other groups. In the same trend, REO and GEO treatments induced a significant (p = 0.001) reduction in the plasma cholesterol concentrations and triglycerides compared to the control. The total antioxidant capacity increased by 7.60% and the malondialdehyde decreased by 11.64% in the plasma of GEO-0.5 treatment than the control. Thus, the dietary supplementation of REO and GEO have a beneficial effect in improving the productivity and meat quality of growing rabbits.
Highlights
Rabbit meat has undoubtedly been a component of human nutrition for a long time.the world’s consumption of rabbit meat grows year on year due to its good taste, special flavor, and diverse uses in preparing a wide variety of foods [1,2]
Rabbits were handled in the present study following the guidelines of the Pharmaceutical & Fermentation Industries Development Center, City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications, (SRTA-City), Alexandria, Egypt, after the approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs)/IACUC # 37-6F-1021
The results showed that FBW, body weight gain (BWG), and average daily gain (ADG) significantly increased (p < 0.001) in rosemary essential oil (REO)-0.5 and ginger essential oil (GEO)-0.5 groups compared to the control group
Summary
Rabbit meat has undoubtedly been a component of human nutrition for a long time.the world’s consumption of rabbit meat grows year on year due to its good taste, special flavor, and diverse uses in preparing a wide variety of foods [1,2]. Rabbit meat has undoubtedly been a component of human nutrition for a long time. Rabbit meat is especially beneficial in Western countries, where people’s diets are often high in lipids and salt, putting them at risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension [3]. The functional proteins in rabbit meat have been recognized as one of the highest quality proteins in digestibility, as well as amino acid composition. Rabbit meat is free of uric acid and has a low purine level [1,2]. The fatty acid composition of rabbit meat is characterized by a high polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content, especially omega-3, PUFA, which plays an important function in human nutrition by assisting in the prevention of lifestyle diseases [8,9]
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