COOLING TIME ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND LIPID OXIDATION RATE OF THE MAIN MEAT CUTS OF RABBIT MEAT AND THEIR PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES DURING PROLONGED STORAGE

• Grant number: 24/05897-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Hirasilva Borba
• Grantee: Erick Alonso Villegas Cayllahua
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This study will be comprised of two stages. In the first stage, the characterization of the chemical composition and lipid oxidation of the Biceps femoris and Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscles of 90-day-old male and female Botucatu rabbits will be carried out during the first 24 hours post-mortem as a function of cooling time. 160 carcasses will be used, which will remain in the cold room at 4°C for eight different storage periods during the 24 hours post-mortem (0h, 1.5h, 3h, 4.5h, 6h, 12h, 18h and 24h) , the two muscles will later be extracted to carry out chemical composition and lipid oxidation analyzes at each time. In the second stage, the effect of cooling and storage time on the physical-chemical characteristics of the Biceps femoris muscle of Botucatu rabbits will be carried out. 100 carcasses of 90-day-old Botucatu rabbits will be used. Which will be divided into two groups: the carcasses that will not remain in the cold room, as they will be packaged immediately after slaughtering the rabbit (n=50) and the other group will be made up of carcasses that will remain in the cold room at 4°C for 24 hours, where the carcass cooling process will take place to later be packaged in polyethylene plastic bags (n=50). Within each group, part of the carcasses (n=10 from each group) will be analyzed on the day of collection (start), previously kept under refrigeration. The remaining carcasses (n=40 from each group) will be frozen in a freezing tunnel (-40°C), and subsequently, will be stored under freezing (-18°C) for up to twelve months. At the end of each proposed freezing period (three, six, nine and twelve months), physical and chemical analyzes will be carried out on 10 replications of each group, with the carcasses previously thawed under refrigeration (4°C) to extract the Biceps femoris muscle. pH, color, water retention capacity (WHC), cooking weight loss (CWL), shear force, sarcomere length, myofibrillar fragmentation index (FMI), proximate composition, collagen content, cholesterol content, mineral profile and fatty acid profile for each established time. And the sensory test will be carried out on the samples at the beginning and at 12 months of storage.