Effect of dietary supplementation of spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) on carcass composition, meat physical traits, and vitamin B12 content on growing rabbits

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the effect and duration of dietary inclusion of 5% spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) and/or 3% thyme (Thymus vulgaris) on growing rabbit carcass composition, meat and bone rheological traits, and the vitamin B 12 content of Longissimus dorsi (LD) meat. The study involved 294 maternal line growing rabbits from the Pannon breeding programme. At weaning (5 wk), animals were randomly divided by dietary treatment into 7 groups of 42 rabbits each. A control group (C-C) received a pellet with no supplementation throughout the trial (5-11 wk of age), whereas the other groups were fed diets supplemented with 5% spirulina (S), 3% thyme (T) or with both ingredients (ST) for either the entire growing period (5-11 wk of age; groups: S-S, T-T, ST-ST, respectively), or its final part only (8-11 wk of age; groups: C-S, C-T, C-ST, respectively). Results showed that regardless of the duration of supplementation, spirulina and thyme provided no effect on the traits examined, except for scapular fat content, whose value was higher in the S-S group than in the C-T group (P<0.05). Spirulina was confirmed as a rich source of vitamin B 12 that was successfully transferred into LD meat, thus demonstrating its value as an effective natural supplement in producing food fortified with this vital element. Further studies are necessary to clarify the effect of spirulina on carcass fat deposition, bone development, and mineralisation.

Thyme oil inclusion levels in a rabbit ration: Evaluation of productive performance, carcass criteria and meat quality under hot environmental conditions

“…Overall, carcass weight, yields, dissectible fat, and results on organ percentages were similar to previous results in various environments ( Abdel-Wareth et al., 2015 , Dalle Zotte et al., 2014b ). Interestingly, the incorporation of thyme oil with olive oil linearly decreased fat depots when compared with CON, thus confirming previous data on reduced abdominal fat content in Japanese quails at inclusion levels of 60 or 200 mg/kg thyme essential oil ( Denli et al., 2004 , Khaksar et al., 2012 ) and broiler chicken when supplemented at 1 g/kg ( Al-Kassie, 2009 ).…”

Effects of plant extracts and essential oils as feed supplements on quality and microbial traits of rabbit meat

“…An inverse relationship exists between drip loss and pH, so when pH is low, drip loss is high (Melody et al, 2004). This is in agreement with previous studies, which reported that no significant differences to drip loss occurred with dietary supplementation of spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) and thyme leaves in rabbit feed (Dalle Zotte et al, 2014).…”

Contributions on the Sensorial, Physico-Chemical and Nutritional Characterization of Meat in Flemish Giant Rabbit Breed

“…Similar proteins content was also reported in other articles for rabbit meat of average sized breeds [1, 17-20, 25-36, 40-43]. The proteins level varies relatedly to the carcass part, between 18.6 g/100 g in forelegs and 22.4 g/100 g in LD muscles [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]48]. The proportion of water and protein is higher in younger rabbits, and the amount of lipids is lower [29,35,40].…”

“…It is rich in protein (18.6-22.4 g/100 g) with high biological value through the essential amino acid content, low in fat (1.8-8.8 g/100 g), cholesterol (47-61 mg/100 g), Na (37-47 mg/100 g). It is also recommended in hypertensive people diets [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36], as well as in people affected by gout, due to the low purine content and the lack of uric acid [53]. It is rich in K (428-431 mg/100 g), P (222-237 mg/100 g), Mg (27 mg/100 g), Fe (5.56 mg/15.0 g/100 g), B complex vitamins and has a favorable high unsaturated fatty acids profile, with high ω6/ω3 ratio [24-36, 52, 62, 64-66].…”