The effect of fish oil, lycopene and organic selenium as feed additives on rabbit meat quality

Abstract

The aim of the study was to compare the quality of rabbit meat depending on the type of feed used. The animals were divided into 5 groups of 10 individuals and were fed ad libitum with feed for 55 days. The control group was fed with the addition of sunflower oil (4%), the feed of group FO was enriched with 4% odourless fish oil (FO), the feed of group FOLyc was enriched with 4% FO and 15 ppm lycopene (Lyc), the feed of group ROSe was enriched with 4% FO and selenized yeast (SeY) and the feed of group FOLycSe contained 4% FO, 15 ppm Lyc and SeY. The obtained results showed that the enrichment of feed with fish oil resulted in an increase in the longissimus muscle mass by 7.3%. The feed supplementation with fish oil was beneficial in terms of nutrition due to the increase in the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Fat oxidation level, measured in the malondialdehyde test, indicated that the highest level was observed in muscles of rabbits fed diets enriched with only FO. The use of odourless FO in feed adversely affected the sensory quality of meat by increasing the intensity of negative notes like rancid.

Keywords

• rabbit
• longissimus
• fish oil
• lycopene
• selenium