Fatty acid and lipid contents differentiation in cuts of rabbit meat

Abstract

The study aimed at quantifying fatty acids (FA), especially the health-promoting ones, in cuts of rabbit meat. Loin, containing mostly glycolytic muscles, had less lipids than cuts containing oxidative (hind leg) or intermediate muscles (foreleg and brisket). Brisket had the highest polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), odd- and branched-chain FAs (OBCFA) and palmitoleic acid C16:1 n-7 contents, better n-6/n-3 proportion, advantageous nutritional indexes (AI, TI, H/H) than other cuts. Hind leg contained less atherogenic saturated FAs (LCSFA) than other cuts. Foreleg was rich in two important n-3 LC-PUFAs: C20:5 and C22:5. The results suggest that apart from the preferred cuts (loin and hind leg) used in gastronomy, brisket and foreleg should be included for being rich in nutritionally valuable PUFA, especially from the n-3 family. Daily portion (250 g) of foreleg would cover 16% of the requirement for EPA and DHA, and the same amount of brisket or hind leg—11%.

Keywords

• Rabbit meat
• carcass cuts
• chemical composition
• fatty acids
• nutritional indexes