Effects of dietary alfalfa flavonoids on the performance, meat quality and lipid oxidation of growing rabbits

OBJECTIVE: The present experiment has tested the effect of dietary alfalfa flavonoids (AAF) supplementation on the productive performances, carcass characteristics, meat quality and lipid oxidation of growing rabbits. METHODS: One hundred and sixty crossbred rabbits (42 days old) were divided into four groups of forty animals each and were fed either a control diet (AAF0) or an AAF0 diet supplemented with 400, 800, or 1,200 mg of AAF/kg per diet (AAF4, AAF8, and AAF12, respectively) from weaning to slaughtering (102 days old). Performance data were recorded over a period of 60 days. At the end of the trial, 12 rabbits were slaughtered per group, and the carcass characteristics were recorded. Moreover, the plasma, liver and dorsal muscles were sampled from 12 rabbits/group, and were analyzed for lipid oxidation. RESULTS: No significant differences were recorded for the performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits except for lightness parameter that was lower in the control group. Dietary AAF supplementation significantly (p<0.01) affected the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels of the frozen meat in a dose-related manner, with the lowest value (0.24 mg MDA/kg fresh meat) recorded in the AAF12 group samples. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that the dietary inclusion of AAF in rabbit diets improved muscle oxidation stability with no adverse effects on the growth performance of the animals even if a slight impact on meat lightness color parameter was recorded.