Características de qualidade da carne de coelhos alimentados com rações contendo farelo de coco

Abstract

The objective of this work was to assess the effect of feeding rabbits (White New Zeeland x Californian) with diets containing coconut meal (CM) on meat proximal composition, physical and functional properties and fatty acid profile. The ratio polyunsaturated to saturated (P/S) fatty acids in the meat was also assessed. The experiment utilized 60 rabbits in a complete randomized design with diets containing five levels of CM (0.00, 6.25, 12.50, 18.75 and 25.00%) and 12 animals per treatment. Increasing levels of CM in the diet did not affect (p>0.05) meat proximal composition, pH or cooking losses (CL). CM levels in the diets showed a quadratic effect on meat water holding capacity (WHC) and a linear effect on meat shear force (SF). Diets containing 25.00% CM produced meat with lower (p<0.05) WHC and those containing 18.75 and 25.00% CM produced meat with higher (p<0.05) SF than that from the diet with 0.00% CM. Color component a* in meat from diets containing 12.50, 18.75 and 25.00% CM was higher (p<0.05) than that in the meat from the diet with 0.00% CM. Meat color component b* was linearly affected by CM levels and all diets containing CM produced meats with higher (p<0.05) b* values than that from the 0.00% CM. The levels of palmitoleic, stearic, and linolenic acids in the meat were linearly affected by dietary CM levels. When compared to the levels of fatty acids in the meat from the 0.00% CM diet, palmitic acid was lower (p<0.05) in the meat from all diets containing CM; myristic acid and stearic acid levels were higher (p<0.05) and palmitoleic acid level was lower (p<0.05) in the meat from the diet containing 25.00% CM and linolenic acid level was lower (p<0.05) in meats from diets containing 18.75 and 25.00%. The relation P/S in the meat was not affected (p>0.05) by the levels of CM in the diets suggesting that the inclusion of this by-product in the diets is feasible even at the 25.00% level.