Microbiological Quality of Rabbit Meat

Abstract

World rabbit meat production is estimated to be over 1 million tons, and Spain is the third largest producer. Although rabbit meat is marketed and consumed worldwide, information on microbiological quality is very scarce. Here, we report indicator organisms, spoilage flora, sensory quality, and some physicochemical traits of 24 h postmortem chilled rabbit carcasses and prepackaged rabbit meat stored chilled in air for 0 to 3 days at the retail level. The mean total bacterial count (4.01 +/- 0.48 log CFU/g) for carcasses dressed at a small abattoir by a manual process was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that (4.96 +/- 0.90 log CFU/g) for carcasses dressed at a large abattoir in automated slaughter lines. Both groups of carcasses had mean pH values of 5.98. The dominant contaminants on carcasses from the small abattoir were Pseudomonas, lactic acid bacteria, and yeasts. These microorganisms and Brochothrix thermosphacta were dominant on carcasses from the large abattoir. On prepacked hind legs (pH 6.26 +/- 0.18) stored at -1 to +1 degree C (supermarket 1), mean aerobic mesophilic count was 5.87 +/- 1.03 log CFU/g, and the major microbial groups were Pseudomonas, yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, and B. thermosphacta. On prepacked whole carcasses (pH 6.37 +/- 0.18) displayed at -1 to +5 degrees C (supermarket 2), mean aerobic mesophilic count was 6.60 +/- 1.18 and the same microbial groups were dominant. Relative Escherichia coli incidence was supermarket 2 > large abattoir > supermarket 1 > small abattoir. Overall, low numbers of coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae, psychrotrophic clostridia, coagulase-positive staphylococci, and molds were found. Sensory scores, pH values, and L-lactic acid content differentiated fresh carcasses from retail samples. Data obtained suggest that the microflora of chilled rabbit meat are different from those found on the meat of other animals.

Lesions in thighs from hunted Brown Hares (Lepus europaeus) and microflora under vacuum-packaging storage

“…No significant differences were obtained for pH of thighs, with a range of 5.72 to 6.19 and a mean of 5.83. Quite similar data have been presented for rabbit (Rodriguez-Calleja et al 2004). This range of pH values approximates those found in high-pH meat which is known to be sensitive to multiplication of pathogenic or spoilage bacteria under vacuum packaging (Gill 2004).…”

“…These data are in the same range as reported by Hoppe (1981) and Türck (2008). These and our values are roughly 1 log unit higher than those reported for slaughtered rabbits (Rodriguez-Calleja et al 2004). The difference between "A" and "B" category also implies that EB counts are more sensitive hygiene indicators than TACs (Schaffner and Smith 2004).…”

“…For frozen thighs from Argentinian hare, Hoppe (1981) reported a range of 3 to 5 log cfu/g, and Türck (2008) reported a median of 3.7 log cfu/g (range of 2.2 to 6.2 log cfu/g). It is important to note that hunted hares are not necessarily more contaminated than slaughter animals of similar size, e.g., mean values of 4-5 log cfu/g for slaughtered farmed rabbits are reported by several studies conducted on different continents (Khalafalla 1993;Bobbitt 2003;Rodriguez-Calleja et al 2004). Initial EB counts were 2.2±0.3 and 2.7±0.2 log cfu/g (n= 10) for categories "A" and "B", respectively.…”

Quercetin dietary supplementation of fattening lambs at 0.2% rate reduces discolouration and microbial growth in meat during refrigerated storage

“…The hue angle (h*), which defines colour (0°is red; 90°is yellow), was calculated as arctangent (b*/a*), and the chroma (C*), a measure of colour intensity (0 is dull; 60 is vivid), was computed as ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a Ã2 þ b Ã2 ð Þ p (Young & West, 2001). Also, the extract release volume (ERV) was measured (on days 0, 3, and 7) in QF muscle (Rodríguez-Calleja, Santos, Otero, & García-López, 2004). Briefly, minced lamb (15 g) was mixed with 60 ml of the extraction reagent (0.2 M KH 2 PO 4 and 0.2 M NaOH; pH 5.8) and homogenized for 2 min.…”

“…The numbers of total viable bacteria at 4.5°C (TVB), Pseudomonas spp., mould and yeast (MY) and Enterobacteriaceae (EC) were determined and confirmed as described elsewhere (Rodríguez-Calleja, García-López, Santos, & Otero, 2005;Rodríguez-Calleja et al, 2004). Briefly, TVB were determined by the pour plate technique on Plate Count Agar (PCA; Oxoid, Basingstoke, UK) incubated at 4.5°C for 7 days.…”