Meat physical quality and muscle fibre properties of rabbit meat as affected by the sire breed, season, parity order and gender in an organic production system

[EN] The aim of the study was to evaluate some meat physical quality and muscle fibre properties of rabbit meat when considering 2 sire breeds (SB: Vienna Blue [VB]; Burgundy Fawn [BF]; both coloured and slow-growing breeds), several parity orders (P: 1, 2, ≥3), gender (G), and 2 slaughter seasons (SS: spring, summer) in an organic production system. The effect of storage time (ST) at frozen state (2 mo at –20°C) of Longissimus lumborum (LL) meat was also evaluated. Animals were slaughtered when they reached 2.8 kg of live weight. Then, pH and L*a*b* colour values of Biceps femoris (BF) and LL muscles, water loss and Warner-Bratzler shear force of LL and hind leg (HL) meat, and the fibre typing and enzymatic activity of LL muscle were analysed. LL meat from females showed higher b* values than males (0.04 vs. –1.25; P<0.05). Significant (P<0.05) SB×P, SB×G and P×G interactions were observed for the b* value of LL: VB and BF crossbreds presented a higher b* value when born as P≥3 and P2 respectively, VB females showed higher b* value than VB males, and P2 and P≥3 produced males with a significantly lower b* value. HL thawing losses were significantly (P<0.05) higher in rabbits slaughtered in summer than in those slaughtered in spring, whereas the opposite result was obtained for LL meat (P<0.01). Cooking loss of LL meat was significantly lower in P2 group than P≥3 group (P<0.05). The lactate dehydrogenase activity in LL muscle was higher in VB than in BF crossbreds (930 vs. 830 IU; P<0.05), albeit not supported by differences in fibre type distribution. The ST significantly (P