Evaluation of amino acids in meat and liver of nutria (Myocastor coypus Molina) depending on age

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the amino acid composition of proteins in the dorsal muscle, femoral muscle, and the liver of female nutrias (Myocastor coypus Molina) in relation to age. In this study a total of 50 animals were used. The animals were split into two groups based on their age, i.e. 7 months old and 24 months old. The amino acids were separated and quantitatively determined using an automated analyser. Using a two-way analysis of variance, significant differences (P˂0.05) were determined between the tested parameters, muscle type and age. In this study, statistically significant differences were found in the dorsal muscle in the content of glycine, which was higher in young animals and in the content of aspartic acid, which was higher in older animals. In the case of the femoral muscle, significantly higher content of serine, glycine and arginine were found in the group of 7-month-old animals. In contrast, the group of 24-month-old nutria in the femoral muscle showed a higher content of alanine, valine and phenylalanine. In the liver, significantly higher contents of some amino acids were found only in the group of young, 7 months old nutrias. Higher content was observed for aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, proline and histidine. Additionally, nutria meat, particularly meat from the dorsal muscle, is a rich source of amino acids, especially essential amino acid, glutamic acid and aspartic acid, making it yet another quality source of protein in a balanced human diet.

Keywords

• dorsal muscle
• femoral muscle
• liver
• myocastor coypus