Amino acid profile of rabbit meat: dietary intake and the effect of freezing on the amino acid composition

Abstract

Rabbit meat is considered as a healthy meat due to its high protein and low fat content. This study aimed at demonstrating the amino acids profile in three rabbit breeds, namely New Zealand White, California and Balady rabbits marketed in Egypt. In addition, the estimated daily intake (EDI) of amino acids due to the consumption of the rabbit meat were calculated. Furthermore, the effect of long frozen storage for different periods on the amino acid content of the New Zealand White rabbit meat was investigated as an experimental trial. The obtained results indicate a slight variation in the amino acid profiles among the examined rabbit meat samples. Lysine was the dominant essential amino acid in all the tested rabbit breeds. Generally, California breed had the highest total amino acid content at 27.46 ± 0.30 mg/g, whereas the New Zealand White breed at 25.79 ± 0.68 mg/g, and finally the Balady breed at 25.53 ± 0.77 mg/g. The EDI values (mg/day) for the total amino acids via consumption of the rabbit meat were 52.73, 49.54 and 49.02 from California, New Zealand White and Balady rabbit meat, respectively. Freezing caused a significant reduction in the amino acid content of the rabbit meat. For instance, total amino acid content showed significant reduction trends on freezing-time-dependent manner as it was reduced to 89.01% after one month, 78.54% after two months, 57.69% after four months, and 32.12% after six months of long frozen storage. Therefore, it is not recommended to keep rabbit meat frozen at -20 °C for more than one month.