Effect of a linseed diet on lipid oxidation, fatty acid composition of muscle, perirenal fat, and raw and cooked rabbit meat

Forty Californian×New Zealand rabbits (1kg initial body weight) were fed a control or a linseed isoenergetic diet containing 30g of extruded linseed/kg. Twenty rabbits for each dietary treatment were slaughtered at 11 weeks of age, at 35 days after the start of the experiment. Feeding the linseed diet increased (P<0.005) the content of 18:2n-3 in muscles, perirenal fat, and raw and cooked meat. The long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents were also increased (P<0.01) in the meat. The linseed diet produced a robust decrease in the n-6/n-3 ratio. Cooking did not alter n-3 PUFA more than saturated fatty acids (SFA) or monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). However, n-6 PUFA were altered by cooking. The oxidative stability of Longissimus dorsi was not affected by the linseed diet, even after 300min of forced-oxidation. Inclusion of linseed in rabbit diets is a valid method of improving the nutritional value of rabbit meat.