Dietary <i>Lippia citriodora</i> extract in rabbit feeding: effects on quality of carcass and meat

Abstract

Abstract. Due to consumer demand, in recent years considerable attention has been focused on the use of natural compounds in animal feed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary natural extract from Lippia citriodora (commonly named "limoncina"), titrated in verbascoside, on quality, measured as oxidative stability, fatty acid composition, alpha-tocopherol and retinol content and sensory traits of rabbit meat. Forty-five New Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned to three age-and body-weight-balanced feeding groups of 15 animals each in which a conventional pelleted diet (CON) was supplemented with 1 or 2 kg t −1 (low naturalextract (LNE) and high natural-extract (HNE) groups, respectively) of Lippia citriodora extract for 55 days. No influence on carcass characteristics and the chemical composition of meat was observed. A trend for a positive effect on alpha-tocopherol tissue content (P = 0.07) and on thiobarbituric reactive substance (TBARS) values was observed (P = 0.063) in Longissimus Lumborum muscle from the HNE group.The fatty acid profile of the meat was affected by dietary treatment with a significant decrease (P = 0.001) in saturated fatty acids and an increase (P = 0.01) in polyunsaturated fatty acids in both treated groups compared to the CON group. The supplementation with natural extract at the highest dosage improved the tenderness and juiciness of meat, highlighting a better consistency than CON and LNE groups. In conclusion, this study shows that the natural extract used has the potential to improve rabbit meat in order to produce functional food, without altering the chemical and physical characteristics of meat.

Rabbit metabolic response and selected meat quality traits: Evaluation of dietary PLX®23 and LycoBeads® feed supplement

“…In addition, the TBARS values in Longissimus lumborum muscle of three experimental groups present a limited increase during the storage compared to the CON group, showing a lower rate of oxidation in the meat from 0 to 72 hr post‐mortem. This result agrees with previous research in rabbits supplemented with VB (Palazzo et al, ; Vizzarri et al, ) and with Peiretti et al () always in rabbits fed with dried tomato pulp, containing lycopene. Sahin et al () experienced in trout that lycopene is a powerful antioxidant able to protect tissues from oxidative damage and can be deposited in tissues exerting a powerful inhibitory effect on lipid oxidation.…”

“…The present experiment highlighted in all three treated groups an increase of retinol and α‐tocopherol meat content when compared to the control group; nevertheless only in PLX ® 23, group values reached the statistical significance. This result is in agreement with those reported in previous research on dietary supplementation with VB in rabbits and hare (Palazzo et al, ; Vizzarri et al, ) and pigs (Rossi, Pastorelli, & Corino, ). In addition, it is assumed that the use of feed additives with antioxidant activity could actively participate in lipid peroxide removal from the cell; therefore, less a‐tocopherol is used for a similar purpose, leading to an higher content in tissue (Surai, ).…”

“…The productive performance, both in vivo and slaughter controls, has not shown substantial variations between all studied‐groups. These results are consistent with those reported on rabbits in Tedesco, Galletti, Rossetti, and Morazzoni () for lycopene and in Palazzo et al () for the Lippia citriodora dietary supplementation. Contrarily Peiretti, Gai, Rotolo, and Gasco () reported that the dietary supplementation based on dried tomato pulp (6%), with lycopene as main component, led to an increase of final body weight in fattening‐rabbits.…”

“…Even the proximate composition of meat was not affected by dietary treatment, in accordance with Waheed () in growing rabbits receiving a growing supplementation of extract of tomato pulp (0%, 8%, 16% and 24%); also in agreement with what we found in our previous study, conducted on young rabbits, fed with two different doses of plant extract of Lippia citriodora (Palazzo et al, ).…”

Effects of dietary sorghum dried distiller's grains with solubles on growth performance, diet nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics and immunity in growing rabbits

“…In the previous study with different feed formulation, nutritional level and experimental condition, the New Zealand white rabbits showed different growth performance. The range of average daily feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio during 35-90 days of age are 86.1-141.0, 28.5-40.1, 2.10-4.20 g/day, respectively, and converted body weight at 70 days of age is 1.80-2.60 kg (Eiben et al, 2011;Juskiewicz et al, 2008;Oliveira, Silva, Araújo, Silva, & Bento, 2012;Palazzo et al, 2015;Rotolo et al, 2014).…”