Quality of carcasses and meat from male and female rabbits

Meat from rabbits offers high nutritive properties as it has high levels of essential amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Rabbit meat is also regarded lean, since it contains less fat than many other meat types. The composition of rabbit meat lipids is also favourable due to higher contents of unsaturated fatty acids compared to other types of meat. The aim of the present study was to examine and compare meat quality from male and female rabbits. A total of 24 rabbits (12 males and 12 females) were used. The rabbits were slaughtered at an age of 17–18 weeks. The following parameters were studied: slaughter traits, colour, pH, cooking loss, tenderness, total fat content and water holding capacity (WHC). Interestingly, the ultimate pH was significantly lower in male compared to female rabbits (p = 0.008). Moreover, cooking losses were higher in the meat from male rabbits (p = 0.001). No other relevant differences were found between meat from male and female rabbits suggesting that sex might be regarded as a minor factor in the production of rabbit meat at the chosen slaughter age.