Meat qualities of rabbits fed diets containing dried watermelon rinds as an energy source

Abstract

The silent competition between humans and livestock for maize has brought about the recent researches on the use of unconventional feed ingredients,such as dried watermelon rinds (DWMR),as an inclusion in livestock feed. This study was therefore conducted to assess the effect of dietscontaining graded levels of DWMR on rabbits’meatquality.Eighty (80) crossbreed, unsexed weaner rabbits with the mean weight of 630g were used for this study, allocated on weight equalization basis into four (4) treatment groups (0%, 5%, 10% and 15% of DWMR inclusion levels, representing T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively and further divided into five (5) replicates of 4 rabbits. A total of 24 rabbits, 6from each treatmentwere slaughtered formeat quality assessment.Results revealed a significant (P<0.05) influenceof DWMRin the fat and crude fibre(within the negligible range of 1-2%)contents of the meat.Fat was highest (14.21%) in T3while fibre was highest (1.11%) in T4. Cooking loss, refrigeration loss,water absorptive powerandcolourof meat from rabbitswere not significantly (P>0.05) affected by DWMR.Although lipid profile was not significantly (P>0.05) affected by DWMR, significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in the levelsof Malondialdehyde (MDA), Gluthatione (GSH) and Catalase (CAT).MDA level was least at the 5% DWMR treatment group while the 0% and 10% DWMR treatment groups had the highest level of GSH and CAT respectively.Meat from rabbits fed 15% DWMR recorded the highest score for tendernessin sensorial profile.It wasthenconcluded thatup to 15 %ofDWMRin rabbits’ diets had no negative effecton the quality of their meat.