The effect of one-week intensive feed restriction and age on the carcass composition and meat quality of growing rabbits

The effect of one-week intensive feed restriction on the carcass characteristics, meat tenderness, cooking loss, and muscle fibre characteristics of growing rabbits was evaluated. Weaned rabbits (35 days) were divided into three groups: rabbits fed ad libitum (ADL), rabbits fed 50 g (R50), and rabbits fed 65 g (R65) of feed per animal per day in days 42–49 of age. Dressing out percentage was lower (–1.3% and –2.3% for R50 and R65, respectively) in restricted rabbits (P ≤ 0.001) but increased with age (P ≤ 0.001). Cooking loss significantly increased in restricted rabbits. A significant interaction between feeding regime and age was observed in the number of type αR muscle fibres, the highest number (P ≤ 0.05) was observed in the ADL rabbits (114.5) at 49 days, and the lowest was found in the R50 group at 70 days of age (25.0). Feed restriction increased the percentage of αW glycolytic fibres (P ≤ 0.01). A significant negative correlation was found between cooking loss and the cross sectional area of αW fibres (–0.486) and αR (–0.325). It could be concluded that one-week intensive feed restriction did not have a negative effect on meat tenderness and cooking loss, despite the fact that it affected muscle fibre type distribution.