Abstract
Simple SummaryPolyunsaturated fatty acids in human foods have been shown to have health benefits. We investigated the potential to incorporate them into rabbit meat by adding them to the diet. Good relationships between dietary fatty acids (FAs) and their content in longissimus dorsi muscle and perirenal fat of rabbits was established, especially the latter. The results should make it possible to enhance the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of rabbit meat, with benefits to the health of human consumers.The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of various raw materials (spirulina, curcuma, tomato pomace, false flax, linseed, chia, perilla seeds) as suitable polyunsaturated fatty acid n-3 (n-3 PUFA) sources, on the lipid traits in the longissimus dorsi muscle and perirenal fat of growing rabbits. The fatty acid (FA) analyses of the diets, carried out by gas chromatography, differed over a wide range on the basis of the highly varied ingredients in 27 experimental formulations. Among the 29 identified FAs, three from feeds were catabolized in the rabbits, five were de novo synthesized and stored chiefly in the muscle. It was possible to linearly characterize the incorporation from the feed to the muscle of 16 FAs. This study has confirmed that the dietary inclusion of various raw materials could be considered as a way of enriching the n-3 PUFA of rabbit meat. A proposal for the prediction of n-3 PUFA from dietary α-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) and a panel of another 10 FAs has been made for intramuscular fat (R2 = 0.94) and perirenal fat (R2 = 0.96).
Highlights
One of the main aims of meat researchers is to produce dietetic and healthy meat in order to reduce the saturated fatty acids (FAs) and increase the unsaturated FAs in fat deposits [1]
The study has shown a very high variability of FAs in the diets that resulted from the variation coefficient (VC), which was only limited to less than 50% in 4 FAs but it exceeded 150% in 12 cases out of 20
Profiles of the diets, which differed according to the ingredients, are not analytically reported in the present study; as expected, the diets supplemented with oilseed had increased proportions of linoleic (C18:2 n-6) and α-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3)
Summary
One of the main aims of meat researchers is to produce dietetic and healthy meat in order to reduce the saturated fatty acids (FAs) and increase the unsaturated FAs in fat deposits [1]. Rabbit meat has a good nutritional value and is highly valued because of its dietary properties, since it is a lean meat with a low-fat content and less saturated FAs and cholesterol than other meats [2]. These characteristics, together with the possibility of manipulating the composition of the FAs through diet, mean that rabbit meat could be valuable in human nutrition [3]. Feeding has the highest impact on meat quality and different studies have shown that, after a month of treatment, the FA profile of rabbit muscles can effectively be modified when the rabbits are fed diets with different FA supplementations [6,7]
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