Meat quality and tissue fatty acid profiles in rabbits fed diets supplemented with conjugated linoleic acid

Abstract

In this study the deposition of dietary CLA isomers in loin and hindleg meat, liver and fat, and the influence on performance and fatty acid (FA) profile were investigated in growing rabbits. CLA was supplied as synthetically produced oil at 5 and 10 g/kg diet for the whole fattening period (six weeks) or three weeks before the slaughter. CLA had no or limited effect on feed intake, growth, carcass traits and composition of meat. Treatment with CLA increased the proportion of saturated FA at the expense of monounsaturated FA in meat and liver. Supplementation of the diet with CLA increased (<I>P</I> < 0.05) CLA in lipids of meat from < 1 mg/g FA up to 36 mg/g FA. Adipose and hepatic tissue incorporated the highest (44 mg/g FA) and the lowest (14 mg/g FA) amount of CLA, respectively. The concentration of CLA in tissue lipids increased (<I>P</I> < 0.05) with increasing CLA content in the diet. Duration of CLA feeding had no effect on CLA deposition. Thus, dietary inclusion of CLA at higher concentration (10 g/kg) and feeding CLA-supplemented diet for a shorter period seems to be more suitable for production of CLA-containing rabbit meat. The ratio of the two most abundant isomers of CLA,<I> cis</I>-9, <I>trans</I>-11 and <I>trans</I>-10, <I>cis</I>-12 in tissues differed from that in the CLA-enriched diet. In all tissues the relative proportion of the former isomer was lower than in the diet. The experiment demonstrated that feeding synthetic CLA to rabbits is a means of enriching rabbit meat with CLA, which could provide a healthier product for human consumption.

Effect of probiotic supplementation on growth performance, nutrient utilization and carcass characteristics of growing Chinchilla rabbits

“…The saturated fatty acid (SFA) content at 37.5% with a PUFA: SFA ratio at 1.06 emphasized qualitative and dietetic properties of rabbit meat. The results on fatty acid profile are in line with the earlier reported values (Jorge et al 2005;Marounek et al 2007). Nonetheless, the chemical composition and fatty acid profile fell within the normal range for rabbit meat (Zotte & Szendrő 2011).…”

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

“…This is in contrast to Peiretti et al (2007) and Lazzaroni et al (2009), which found more palmitic acid in the same depot. The values of oleic, linoleic and palmitic acid in this study are also different from results obtained by Marounek et al (2007) for Hyplus rabbits.…”

“…The FA profiles of meat and fat can be effectively modified, when the rabbits are fed different dietary supplements. Enrichment of rations with oils derived from soybean, sunflower, rapeseed (Cobos et al, 1993), linseed (Kouba et al, 2008), camelina (Peiretti et al, 2007), sage (Peiretti & Meineri, 2008), whole white lupin seeds (Volek & Marounek, 2011), fat-soluble vitamins (Gondret et al, 1998;Dal Bosco et al, 2004) and conjugated linoleic acid (Marounek et al, 2007), results in an increased intake of polyunsaturated FAs. A similar positive correlation between the amount of dietary n-3 PUFA intake and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) content of adipose tissue has been established in lambs (Nürn-berg, et al, 1998;Banskalieva et al, 2000), steers (French et al, 2000), pigs (Doichev, 2009) and humans (London et al, 1991).…”

Effect of linseed and the combination of conjugated linoleic acid and linseed on the quality and oxidative stability of pig meat and subcutaneous fat

“…Independent of the tissue, pigs fed CLA exhibited higher levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA), and lower levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) than pigs fed lard (Bee et al 2001). The shift towards higher deposition of SFA and lower deposition of MUFA was observed also in lipids of other animal species: broiler chicks (Simon et al 2000), rabbits (Marounek et al 2007), and calves (Marounek et al 2008). Modification of the FA profile has attracted attention as meat containing less UFA and more SFA may be less prone to lipid oxidation.…”