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 (1 kg initial body weight) were fed a control or a linseed isoenergetic diet containing 30 g 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 300 min of forced-oxidation. Inclusion of linseed in rabbit diets is a valid method of improving the nutritional value of rabbit meat.