Comparative assessment of the quality of rabbit meat, which was obtained in the conditions of a slaughter enterprise and backyard
Abstract
Recently, healthy food products, include rabbit meat, are becoming increasingly popular consumers. Given the large percentage of households producing rabbit meat, as well as the development of relevant enterprises, the issue of quality of rabbit meat obtained under various technological conditions is relevant. The research material was two groups of Californian breed rabbits: the first (I) in the amount of 32 animals from a small rabbit farm city, the second (II) in the amount of 60 animals from a rabbit breeding and processing enterprise in the Dnipro. The experience consisted of determining: technological features of the slaughter and primary processing of rabbits, meat production and quality characteristics of rabbit meat, as well as slaughter veterinary and sanitary examination and histomorphological research. The general patterns of slaughter and primary processing of rabbits of both groups were generally similar and consistent with the requirements. The differences are defined in the methods of stunning, bleeding, toilet carcasses and preparing them for storage. A quick and effective method of bleeding rabbits of group II led to blood contamination of the skins, while in group I the skins remained clean. The dressing out percentage of rabbit backyard slaughter was 6.2 % higher (P < 0.001) than at the enterprise, and, conversely, the loss of carcass meat juice after cooling was 3.24 % less (P < 0.01) in production than in the small farm. The decrease in meat pH at the extreme minimum values per day after slaughter in the 1st group was more intense than in the 2nd group: 5.72 and 5.93 (P <0.001), respectively. The influence of the conditions for the production of rabbit meat on the moisture and protein content in meat was not revealed. The pathological changes common to both groups of rabbits were characterized by the detection of hematomas, subcutaneous abscesses in carcasses (9.4 % and 5.0 % of cases), hepatic coccidiosis (12.5 % and 18.3 %). A significant difference was found in pathological changes in the lungs: the incidence of hemoaspiration of the lungs of rabbit slaughter was 16.5 times higher than that of rabbits slaughtered under production conditions.
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