Seasonal variations in the fatty acid composition of Greek wild rabbit meat

G Papadomichelakis; E Zoidis; A C Pappas; I Hadjigeorgiou

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2017.08.001

Seasonal variations in the fatty acid composition of Greek wild rabbit meat

Meat Sci. 2017 Dec:134:158-162. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2017.08.001. Epub 2017 Aug 5.

Authors

G Papadomichelakis¹, E Zoidis², A C Pappas², I Hadjigeorgiou²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutritional Physiology and Feeding, Faculty of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos Str, 118 55 Athens, Greece. Electronic address: gpapad@aua.gr.
² Department of Nutritional Physiology and Feeding, Faculty of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos Str, 118 55 Athens, Greece.

PMID: 28802200
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2017.08.001

Abstract

The fatty acid (FA) profile of the Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle (LL) was used to investigate seasonal variation (September, November and March) in wild rabbits from Lemnos Island (Greece). The n-3 FA were particularly high during early March in comparison (P<0.05) with late September and late November. Thrombogenicity index (TI) values were lower in March (P<0.05) compared to the other periods. High concentrations of odd- and branched-chain FA were found in the meat of wild rabbits; however, they were not different among the considered periods of the year. The present results showed that wild rabbit meat has a desirable FA profile, particularly during early spring, and it could be a good source of bioactive FA in human nutrition.

Keywords: Fatty acids; Lemnos Island; Meat; Wild rabbit.

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Wild
Fatty Acids / analysis*
Female
Greece
Male
Meat / analysis*
Muscle, Skeletal / chemistry
Rabbits / physiology*
Seasons*

Substances

Fatty Acids