Rendimento e qualidade da carcaça de coelhos submetidos a diferentes períodos de jejum pré-abate

Abstract

It was objectified with this experiment to evaluate the period of pre-slaughter fasting on the loss of weight, the income and the quality of the carcass of the New Zealand breed rabbits. Forty rabbits of both sexes were used. All the animals had been weighed before and after fasting, except the control group (without fasting). The treatments had been: Tzero (without fasting), T6 (six hours of fasting), T12 (12 hours of fasting), T18 (18 hours of fasting) and T24 (24 hours of fasting). The results of this experiment had been that the loss of alive weight of the rabbits increased as passing of the time of fasting. The loss of weight of the carcass for the cold was significant in the treatment with 18 hours of fasting and in the animals without fasting. The animals submitted to fast had presented income of hot and cold carcass superiors to the animals without fasting. In relation to the weight of organ, as it increased the time of fasting to feed minor was the weight of organ, being this data the opposite to the weight of the biliary vesicle, that increased with passing of the time of fasting. The pH of the meat was not modified by the different times of fasting. For the loss of weight for the baking the treatment of 12 hours of fasting to feed was what it presented difference statistics, when comparative to the too much treatments with fasting. The shear force did not present difference for the treatments with fasting. Therefore, it was concluded that in function of the lesser loss of weight and the quality of carcass, the period of pre-slaughter fasting of the New Zealand breed rabbits, can be carried through in up to 12 hours.