Sensory Evaluation of Rabbit Meat from Individuals Fed Functional and More Sustainable Diets Enriched with Freshwater Cladophora glomerata Macroalgal Biomass

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Researchers conducted a study to investigate the use of freshwater Cladophora glomerata macroalgal biomass as an alternative feed material for rabbits, with a focus on improving meat quality and sustainability while meeting consumer preferences. The rabbits were fed diets with varying amounts of biomass, and the resulting meat was evaluated for physical and sensory characteristics. The findings revealed that incorporating macroalgal biomass positively impacted meat production, making it more sustainable and appealing to consumers. However, the inclusion of biomass increased moisture content and cooking losses in hind leg muscles while reducing the darkness and redness of both fresh and cooked meat, enhancing its visual appeal. Moreover, using an 8% biomass inclusion led to longer muscle fibers. Notably, evaluators reported increased happiness after tasting hind leg muscles from the same diet, as evidenced by their emotional responses. Sensory evaluations further confirmed that the taste and overall quality of the rabbit meat were deemed acceptable. ABSTRACT: Maintaining meat quality is essential to sustainable livestock management. Therefore, identifying alternative feed materials while considering consumer acceptance is crucial. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of C. glomerata-biomass-supplemented feeds on rabbit muscles’ physical properties, sensory profiles, and evaluators’ emotional responses to them. A total of thirty 52-day-old weaned Californian breed rabbits were randomly allocated to one of three dietary treatments: standard compound diet (SCD), SCD supplemented with 4% C. glomerata (CG4), or SCD supplemented with 8% C. glomerata (CG8). After the 122-day-old rabbits were slaughtered, post-mortem dissection of the rabbit Longissimus dorsi (LD) and hind leg (HL) muscles was conducted. The physical and histomorphometric features, sensory analyses, and emotional responses to the rabbit’s muscles were determined. Study results revealed CG4 and CG8 treatments significantly increased rabbit muscle moisture, while CG8 increased cooking losses in HL muscles (p < 0.05). Moreover, both CG treatments reduced the darkness and redness of fresh and cooked rabbit muscles compared to SCD (p < 0.05). CG8 treatment compared to SCD resulted in longer LD muscle fibers (p < 0.05). Evaluators discovered that the average scores for each sensory description of rabbit meat are acceptable and that consuming CG8-HL muscles can increase happiness based on emotional responses. Consequently, replacing traditional feed materials in rabbit feed with C. glomerata can lead to not only more sustainable production but also more consumer-acceptable rabbit meat.