Indagine sulle caratteristiche qualitative della carcassa e delle carni di coniglio: valutazioni sulla componente lipidica.

Researches on the fat quality of the rabbit carcass and meat. The aim of this research was to evaluate, in growing rabbits, the effect of age, genetic line and sex on the growth of scapular and perirenal adipose tissue, on some characteristics of the meat and on the fatty acid composition of perirenal and hind leg intramuscular fat. To this end, 60 rabbits, thirty females and thirty males, of two different genetic lines (Hyla and Provisal), were slaughtered at 75, 85 and 95 days old. At slaughter, the carcass, the scapular and perirenal adipose tissues were weighed. Later, the carcass was dissected to obtain loin and right hind leg, which were separated into bone and edible components. The muscular component of both cuts was analysed to determine the lipid and cholesterol contents. In the end, the fatty acid profile of perirenal adipose tissue and hind leg intramuscular fat was determined.The percentage of the scapular and perirenal fat increased with age; the female carcasses had more intramuscular fat than male; the cholesterol content decreased as the carcass weight increased. In female and oldest rabbits the percentage of saturated fatty acids was higher than in male and younger rabbits, but while the effect of sex was the same on the perirenal and intramuscular fat that of age was more marked on the perirenal lipides. The genetic line did not have a great influence on the fatty acids composition, yet in Hyla rabbits the intramuscular fat composition was richer in saturated fatty acids than polyunsatured. Finally, the fatty acid profile of the hind leg edible component was significantly different from the perirenal fat one.[...]