Veterinary-Sanitary Examination of Migratory Bird Carcasses When Stored in a Glacier Under Permafrost Conditions

Abstract

Due to the annual increase in harvesting wild ducks in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) regions, a detailed studying the wild bird meat is required to assess its quality and preserve the population health. Wild ducks harvested in the Ust-Aldan, Tattinsk, and Megino-Kangalassk regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have been studied. The meat of the migratory bird carcasses has been studied twice by 4 samples: the first study – after 2-month freezing in a glacier, the second study – after 4-month freezing in a glacier. The materials studied were meat samples taken from gutted wild ducks of four species, harvested in the central zone in autumn, and marked as follows: Sample No. 1 – mallard carcass meat; Sample No. 2 – wigeon carcass meat; Sample no. 3 – shoveler carcass meat; Sample No. 4 - scoter carcass meat. For the study, gutted carcasses were frozen in a glacier at a relative humidity of 70-85 %; the glacier temperature was within -8 to -15 °C. The veterinary-sanitary examination was performed on gutted migratory bird carcasses when stored in glaciers under permafrost conditions with determining organoleptic, physicochemical, and microbiological meat indicators and studying subcutaneous fat of the meat of gutted migratory bird carcasses with determining toxic elements at the State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Yakutskaya RVIL (Yakut Republican Veterinary Testing Laboratory) and the Department of Veterinary-Sanitary Examination and Hygiene of the Veterinary Medicine Faculty of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Arctic State Agrotechnological University. Based on the organoleptic, physicochemical, and microbiological results, as well as the content of toxic elements in the meat, it has been concluded that the use of healthy duck meat as a food product is advisable.