Physical and chemical characteristics of donkey meat from Martina Franca breed

The rheological and chemical characteristics of meat obtained from 12 Martina Franca donkey males, slaughtered at 14 months of age and a mean final body weight of 169 kg were determined. Meat samples were taken four days post mortem from muscles Longissimus thoracis et lumborum and Biceps femoris, colorimetric parameters were measured to determine L^* (lightness), a^* (redness), b^* (yellowness) and chroma. The Longissimus was significantly lighter (P < 0.05) compared to the Biceps femoris, with L^* indexes of 35.86 and 31.34, respectively. Fatty acid composition of the intramuscular fat showed a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in both muscles, respectively 25.16 g/100 g total fatty acids in the Longissimus and 24.97 g/100 g total fatty acids in the Biceps femoris; oleic acid and palmitic acid were the two most abundant fatty acids in both muscles. The percentages of essential amino acids were higher in both muscles compared with the total amino acid content, respectively 52.88% in the Longissimus, and 51.26% in the Biceps femoris. The high level of unsaturation of the intramuscular fat resulted in a high ratio of unsaturated to saturated fat, and the total amount of essential amino acids, exceeding 50% of the total amino acids showed that donkey meat from a health point of view is a good alternative to traditional red meats.