The effect of Goji berries (Lycium barbarum) dietary supplementation on rabbit meat quality

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of different dietary concentrations of Goji berries (GB) on the meat quality of rabbit. At weaning, New Zealand male rabbits were assigned to three groups and fed with a commercial standard diet (C), C supplemented with 1% (LG) or 3% Goji berries (HG) until slaughter. Supplementation did not affect colour, water holding capacity, and tenderness but regression analyses showed linear relationships between pH (P<.05), Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS; P<.001), Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC; P<.001), Redox Index (RI; P<.001), and phenolic content (P<.001) of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle and the rate of GB in the feed. However, by pairwise comparisons emerged that acidification (pH: P<.05), antioxidant/oxidant status (TBARS, ORAC, RI; P<.001), and phenolic content (P<.01) of muscle significantly improved only in HG compared with C group. Then, a dose-dependent relation was found but only the higher dose of GB guaranteed an increase in protection against oxidative phenomena of meat.

Impact of Dietary Supplementation with Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum) on Microbiological Quality, Physico-Chemical, and Sensory Characteristics of Rabbit Meat

“…TBARS are formed as a by-product of lipid peroxidation and can be strongly related to the lipid composition of the meat ( Table S1 ). The obtained results, as reported by several authors [ 2 , 22 ], highlight the positive relationship between dietary supplementation with GBs and the decrease in lipid oxidation in rabbit loins. Moreover, this result was in concordance with our above-mentioned results regarding the b* values where the loins belonging to the control group appeared to be more yellowish, indicator of increased lipid oxidation.…”

“…Some authors [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], suggested that the beneficial and nutritional properties of goji berries are able to express their action not only at the level of the human or laboratory animals’ microbiota, but also on livestock animals. Menchetti et al have previously conducted studies on does and growing rabbits evaluating the effect of the GBs supplementation on the productive performance [ 21 ] and meat quality [ 22 ]. Specifically, they showed that goji berries inclusion in the feed reduced pre-weaning mortality, improved the feed conversion rate on growing rabbits, and increased milk yield of the does.…”

Impact of Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum) Supplementation on the Energy Homeostasis of Rabbit Does: Uni- and Multivariate Approach

“…Beside several biological active compounds such as carotenoids, vitamins (riboflavin, thiamin and ascorbic acid) and flavonoids, goji berry is primarily rich in polysaccharides [1] which are responsible for the main beneficial pharmacological effects of the fruit both in vitro [5][6][7][8] and in vivo in various laboratory animal species [9,10] and in clinical trials in humans [11,12]. The effects of the goji berries are mainly studied in laboratory animals such as mice and rats [9,10,13] and only a few trials were conducted using the rabbit [14][15][16] although it is considered a useful experimental animal model [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Moreover, only a limited number of researches evaluated the effects of goji berry on the reproductive and productive performance, other than on the quality of meat, in livestock animals, rabbits included [15,16,[23][24][25].…”

“…The effects of the goji berries are mainly studied in laboratory animals such as mice and rats [9,10,13] and only a few trials were conducted using the rabbit [14][15][16] although it is considered a useful experimental animal model [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Moreover, only a limited number of researches evaluated the effects of goji berry on the reproductive and productive performance, other than on the quality of meat, in livestock animals, rabbits included [15,16,[23][24][25].…”

Effects of Diets Enriched in Linseed and Fish Oil on the Expression Pattern of Toll-Like Receptors 4 and Proinflammatory Cytokines on Gonadal Axis and Reproductive Organs in Rabbit Buck

“…However, its role in the switch from physiological to pathological condition of the genital tract, especially in the male, requires further studies [20,24]. Moreover, relatively little is known about its expression and distribution in genital apparatus of the rabbit, although it is not only a livestock species but also a pet and an excellent animal model to study immunological aspects of the reproductive disorders [2,21,[31][32][33][34]. Indeed, the rabbit TLR4 is more similar to the human one compared to mouse and rat [35].…”