Chemical and fatty acid composition of meat from Spanish wild rabbits and hares

Abstract

The differences in the chemical and fatty acid compositions between the meats of five Spanish wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and five Spanish wild hares (Lepus europaeus) for foreleg, loin, hindleg and perirenal fat have been studied. Only significant differences (P < 0.05) in the meat chemical composition were observed between rabbits and hares for dry matter and fat in loins, and for ash in hindlegs. Significant differences (P < 0.05) between saturated fatty acids in foreleg and perirenal fat and between unsaturated C-18:1 and C-18:2 fatty acids in loins were observed.

Significance of Coprophagy for the Fatty Acid Profile in Body Tissues of Rabbits Fed Different Diets

“…A similar situation might be found in rabbits which are grazing animals as well [14]. Accordingly, in the tissues of wild rabbits, concentrations of ALA and long-chain n-3 PUFA were found [15] to be clearly higher than those reported from rabbits fattened on farm [16]. Rabbits in agricultural production systems are commonly fed diets which largely differ from that of wild rabbits because they contain high cereal proportions [17][18][19].…”

“…The question remains whether the nutritional quality of the rabbit meat lipids could be increased with highforage diets which are closer to the natural diets, and to which extent an interaction with coprophagy is relevant. Although a number of publications on the fat quality of rabbit meat exist [15][16][17][19][20][21][22][23], no reports on controlled studies of the effects of high-forage diets are available. Diet type, especially the proportion of concentrate, was shown to influence the amount of caecotroph formation [18,24] and, thus, indirectly the ingestion of microbially modified FA.…”

Characterization of meat from two game birds: thrush (Turdus philomelos) and turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) Caracterización de la carne de dos aves de caza: zorzal (Turdus philomelos) y tórtola (Streptopelia turtur)

“…The content of PUFA in turtle dove meat is even higher than that observed in lipids from wild ducks (Cobos et al, 2000) and other wild animals (Cobos et al, 1995;Hoffman & Wiklund, 2006;Polak et al, 2008). The high level of PUFA in game meat has been directly linked to those species having very low muscle fat content consisting predominantly of phospholipids with high proportions of PUFA.…”

“…Game is distinguished by the characteristic texture, taste and color of its meat, which differs from poultry and farmyard animals; it is normally darker, presents a stronger taste, and is often tougher, depending to the age and type of animal (Cobos, De La Hoz, Cambero, & Ordo´n˜ez, 1995). Moreover, the meat from wild animals has a good nutritional value due to its low muscle fat content and its high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (Cobos, Veiga, & Dı´az, 2000;Cobos et al, 1995;Hoffman & Wiklund, 2006;Polak, Rajar, Gasperlin, & Zlender, 2008). However, the research about the quality of meat from wild animals is mainly on mammals (rabbit, hare, deer, etc.).…”

Fatty acid composition of subcutaneous and visceral fat depots in New Zealand white rabbits

“…According to Peiretti et al (2007), the FA composition of adipose tissues is in a direct relation to the influence of FA profile in the diet. FA profile depends on feeding mode (Oliver et al, 1997;Bernardini et al, 1999), age (Oriani et al, 2005), genotype, breeding and physical activity of the animals (Cobos et al, 1995;Nürnberg, et al, 1998;Banskalieva et al, 2000;Hu & Willett, 2002;De Smet et al, 2004). One of the main goals of nutritional researchers is improving the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content, decreasing the n-6/n-3 ratio and reducing the saturation, atherogenic and thrombogenic indices of meat and fat.…”