A study was conducted to compare the effect of halal slaughter without stunning and gas stun killing followed by bleeding on residual blood content and storage stability of rabbit meat. Eighty male New Zealand white rabbits were divided into two groups of 40 animals each and subjected to either halal slaughter without stunning (HS) or gas stun-kill (GK). The volume of blood lost during exsanguination was measured. Residual blood was further quantified by determination of haemoglobin content in Longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle. Storage stability of the meat was evaluated by microbiological analysis and measuring lipid oxidation in terms of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). HS resulted in significantly higher blood loss than GK. HS had significantly lower residual haemoglobin in LL muscle compared to GK. Slaughter method had no effect on rabbit meat lipid oxidation at 0, 1, and 3 d postmortem. However, at 5 and 8 days of storage at 4°C, significant differences (p<0.05) were found, with meat from the GK group exhibiting significantly higher levels of MDA than that from HS. At day 3, greater growth of Pseudomonas aeroginosa and E. coli were observed in the GK group (p<0.05) with B. thermosphacta and total aerobic counts remained unaffected by slaughter method. At days 5 and 7 postmortem, bacterial counts for all tested microbes were affected by slaughter method, with GK exhibiting significantly higher growth than HS. It can be concluded that slaughter method can affect keeping quality of rabbit meat, and HS may be a favourable option compared to GK due to high bleed out.

This experiment aimed to determine microbial spoilage and lipid and protein oxidation during aerobic refrigerated (4°C) storage of rabbit meat. Forty male New Zealand white rabbits were slaughtered according to the Halal slaughter procedure. The hind limbs were used for microbial analysis while the Longissimus lumborum m. was used for determination of lipid and protein oxidation. Bacterial counts generally increased with aging time and the limit for fresh meat (10(8)cfu/g) was reached at d 7 postmortem. Significant differences in malondialdehyde content were observed after 3d of storage. The thiol concentration significantly decreased with increase in aging time. The band intensities of myosin heavy chain and troponin T significantly reduced with increased refrigerated storage while actin remained relatively stable. This study thus proposes protein oxidation as a potential deteriorative change in refrigerated rabbit meat along with microbial spoilage and lipid oxidation.

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Unlike Europe (particularly, Italy and Spain), where a number of studies have been conducted on the stressful effects of transport on rabbit welfare, few studies have been conducted on transportation of rabbits under hot, humid tropical conditions experienced in countries like Malaysia. We studied the effects of transportation in hot humid tropical conditions of Malaysia on physiometabolic changes in New Zealand white rabbits. Eighty experimental animals were divided into two groups of 40 bucks each and transported for either 3 or 1 h. Transportation caused a significant upsurge of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and creatine kinase activities (p<0.001) though did not significantly affect lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity (p = 0.0706). Both transportation periods caused elevation in plasma glucose levels, lactic acidosis and dehydration as evidenced through elevated packed cell volume and plasma protein concentration. It was concluded that regardless of the duration, transport of rabbits under hot humid tropical conditions, resulted in heat distress since the rabbits showed hyperglycemia, hypercalcemia, lactacidemia, lymphocytopenia, dehydration and increase in blood enzyme activities.

The study was conducted to determine the effect of feeding diets containing Andrographis paniculata leaves (APL), whole Andrographis paniculata plant (APWP) and a control without Andrographis paniculata (AP0), on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat yield of 24 intact Boer bucks. The results obtained indicated that inclusion of Andrographis paniculata significantly improved feed intake, weight gain, feed efficiency and live weight. The ratios of carcass to fat, lean to bone, lean to fat, and composition of meat were also improved. In addition, there were significant differences (p<0.05) between the dietary treatments in dressing percentage and chilling loss. Goats fed on AP0 (control) had significantly higher proportions of fat and bone, as well as thicker back fat than the supplemented animals (APL and APWP). Higher gut fill in animals fed Andrographis paniculata suggested slow rate of digestion, which could have improved utilization and absorption of nutrients by the animals. Goats fed Andrographis paniculata also produced higher meat yield and relatively lower fat contents (p<0.05).

Electrical stunning is the most widely used stunning method for sheep and goats. Because low frequency head-to-back electrical stunning induces cardiac arrest, it is non-compliant with halal requirements. In addition, conventional head-only electrical stunning method can have adverse effects on carcass and meat quality. To address these issues high-frequency electrical stunning systems were developed. High frequency head-to-back removes the potential for pain and distress compared with non-stunned slaughter and does not induce cardiac arrest like low frequency head-to-back stunning making it appropriate for halal. However, this claim is yet to be proven through a comprehensive neurophysiological study. Thus, the present study examined the effects of different pre-slaughter electrical stunning methods and slaughter without stunning on electroencephalographic and blood biochemistry changes. Thirty-two male Boer crossbred bucks were distributed into four groups of eight animals each and subjected to slaughter without stunning (SWS), low frequency head-only (LFHO) and low frequency head-to-back (LFHB) or high frequency head-to-back electrical stunning (HFHB). Slaughtering of animals with or without stunning was performed under minimal anaesthesia. Based on electroencephalograph results, at slaughter, the SWS animals showed an increase in brain electrical activity, which is consistent with the presence of post slaughter noxious sensory input associated with tissue damage. Meanwhile the electroencephalograph activities decreased immediately after application of electrical stunning in all animals, suggesting that they were insensible to pain during and after the neck cut. Electrical brain activities for goats subjected to HFHB were comparable to those for LFHO and those for LFHB. The percentage of animals that exhibited severe clonic activity was significantly lower after LFHB or HFHB stunning compared with LFHO. The concentrations of catecholamines and hyperglycemia in electrically stunned goats were higher compared with those from SWS. It was observed that LFHB caused cardiac arrest in all goats whereas all HFHB goats had no cardiac arrest. High frequency head-to-back electrical stunning may be an improvement on non-stunned slaughter and has advantages for meat quality. However, stunning effectiveness after head-to-back electrical stunning with high frequencies needs to be evaluated under industrial conditions before any recommendation is given.

Conscious animals typically experience sensory (nociception) and emotional pain, whereas unconscious animals that were minimally anesthetized would experience minimal emotional pain. To determine whether 'silencing' the emotional component through a minimally anesthetized model would minimize stress response, and thus improve animal welfare, this study aimed at comparing changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) activities associated with possible noxious stimuli following neck-cut slaughter in conscious non-anesthetized versus minimally anaesthetized Boer cross-bred goats. Ten bucks were randomly assigned to two groups of five animals each, and subjected to neck-cut slaughter when fully conscious (HS) or under minimal anaesthesia (AS) and exsanguinated. The anaesthesia was induced with propofol (5 mg/kg) administered to effect by rapid injection into a cephalic vein and maintained with halothane in 100 % oxygen. Changes in the root mean square (RMS) for each of alpha, beta, delta and theta waves, median frequency (F50) and total power of the EEG (Ptot) were compared in each group before and after neck cut and between groups following treatments. Electroencephalographic parameters did not differ between goats that were fully conscious or slaughtered under minimal anaesthesia. These findings showed that the noxious stimuli from neck cut were present in both conscious and minimally anaesthetized goats. Most importantly, the presence of emotional pain and nociception did not affect the extent of electroencephalographic responses significantly compared with animals that were experiencing nociception only. ____________________________________________________________________________________

The effects of marination on weight gain was studied by seasoning tender block cuts of beef chuck in satay marinades at two temperatures to emulate household practices of marination process. Marinating at 4C gave a higher total weight gain, 17.05% compared to only 7.74% for marination at 25C. The weight gain reached its maximum after 2 h, and thereafter stabilized. The two models describing the weight gain as a function of marinating time, y = 3lnx + 12.5 and y = 13.5x0.15, had a R2 of 0.825 and 0.797, respectively. In predicting meat tenderness using the Warner‐Bratzler shear force values, a strong positive correlation with the cooking loss (P < 0.01) and a negative correlation with the weight gain (P < 0.05) illustrated the importance of cooking loss or water enhancement in affecting tenderness of cooked beef. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The physical changes accounted by the marination process of meat are important in drawing its textural and eating qualities. This investigation measures the effects of marinating temperature and time on three most commonly evaluated physical properties of meat, i.e., the weight gain, cooking loss and the Warner‐Bratzler shear force values. The statistical modeling approach used and the correlation studies performed are beneficial in terms of providing stronger evidence of the trend and thus allow predictions to be made during processing and preservation of meat.