Carcass characteristics and meat quality of weaned New Zealand rabbits supplemented with Moringa oleifera leaves meal

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and proximate analysis of diets and Moringa oliefera meal in % as fed basis.

	Diets^a
	MOLM 0	MOLM 5	MOLM 10	MOLM 15	MOL
Ingredients
Corn	38	38	38	38
Hay	42	42	42	42
Soybean	17	12	7	2
Molasses	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Limestone	1	1	1	1
Premix	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Moringa oleifera leaf meal	0	5	10	15
Proximate analyses (calculated values except for MOL)
Moisture	9.91	10.58	9.65	10.71	5.00
Protein	13.59	13.28	13.28	12.68	26.4
Fat	3.62	5.19	4.1	6.03	4.23
Crude fibre	21.87	21.23	20.38	21.89	5.50
Ash	5.31	5.28	4.92	5.01	8.04

^aDiets: MOLM0: rabbit grower diet without M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM5: (rabbit grower diet with 5% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM10: (rabbit grower diet with 10% M. oleifera as substitute); MOLM15: rabbit grower diet with 15% of M. oleifera as substitute.

Table 2. Carcass characteristics and relative internal organs weight (% of hot carcass weight, unless otherwise stated) of New Zealand white weaned rabbits fed diet containing Moringa oleifera leave meal.

	Diets^d					p-Value
Parameters^e	MOLM 0	MOLM 5	MOLM 10	MOLM 15	SEM^b	Linear	Quadratic
Intestines
Small (MM)	3487.5^ab	3217.5^b	3570.0^a	3325.0^ab	95.0	0.80	0.92
Large (MM)	568.8^a	418.8^b	480.0^b	462.5^b	30.8	0.12	0.08
Heart	0.37^bc	0.31^c	0.43^ab	0.50^a	0.04	0.007	0.11
Lungs	1.43	1.33	1.21	1.38	0.08	0.48	0.11
Fillets	4.01	4.91	5.81	5.02	0.45	0.35	0.30

^a,b,cIn a row, means with common superscripts do not differ (p < 0.05); ^dDiets: MOLM0: rabbit grower diet with 0% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM5: rabbit grower diet with 5% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM10: rabbit grower diet with 10% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM15: rabbit grower diet with 15% of M. oleifera as substitute; ^eSEM = standard error of the mean.

MM: millimetre.

Table 3. Regression equations for Carcass characteristics and internal organs of New Zealand white weaned rabbits fed diet containing Moringa oleifera leave meal.

Parameters	Quadratic equations	p-Value	R^2
Slaughter weight	y = 3585.3 (±94.98) + 262.98 (±30.50) x − 16.48 (±1.95) x^2	<0.0001	0.78
Hot carcass weight	y = 901.59 (±62.57) + 136.00 (±20.09) x − 9.43 (±1.28) x^2	<0.0001	0.81
Cold carcass weight	y = 851.89 (±68.39) + 146.15 (±21.96) x − 9.93 (±1.40) x^2	<0.0001	0.79
Fillet leg	y = 7.06 (±0.31) − 0.25 (±0.10) x + 0.02 (±0.006) x^2	0.01	0.39
Hind legs	y = 13.14 (±0.61) − 0.54(±0.20) x + 0.04 (±0.01) x^2	0.009	0.14
Head	y = 11.57 (±0.93) + 0.64 (±0.30) x − 0.05 (±0.02) x^2	0.02	0.42
Liver	y = 4.18 (±0.30) + 0.27 (±0.10) x − 0.02(±0.006) x^2	0.03	0.41
kidney	y = 0.73 (±0.05) −0.06 (±0.02) x − 0.004 (±0.001) x^2	<0.0001	0.54

Table 4. Effect of Moringa oliefera leaves meal-containing diets on carcass charactestics and internal organs of New Zealand white weaned rabbits (%, unless stated otherwise).

Parameters^e	Experimental diets^d					p-Value
	MOLM0	MOLM5	MOLM10	MOLM15	SEM^f	Linear	Quadratic
SLW (g)	3854.2	4109.2	4085.0	4413.3	193.9	0.08	<0.0001
HCW(g)	923.5^b	1282.5^a	804.8^b	1389.5^a	60.53	0.40	<0.0001
CCW(g)	872.0^b	1274.0^a	789.3^b	1380.5^a	68.26	0.65	<0.0001
Fillet leg	7.03^ab	6.39^b	6.26^b	7.38^a	0.32	0.50	0.01
Hind legs	12.7^ab	12.5^b	10.3^c	13.9^a	0.43	0.59	0.009
Head	11.1^b	11.0^b	8.9^b	13.9^a	0.80	0.16	0.02
Liver	4.2^b	5.1^ab	5.5^a	4.8^ab	0.32	0.11	0.03
Kidney	0.7^a	0.6^ab	0.4^b	0.7^a	0.05	0.40	0.002

^a,b,cIn a row, means with common superscripts do not differ (p < 0.05). ^dExperimental diets: MOLM0: rabbit grower diet with 0% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM5: rabbit grower diet with 5% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM10; rabbit grower diet with 10% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM15: rabbit grower diet with 15% of M. oleifera as substitute. ^eParameters: SLW: slaughter weight; HCW: hot carcass weight; CCW: cold carcass weight; ^fSEM: standard error of the mean.

Table 5. Meat quality of New Zealand white weaned rabbits fed diet containing Moringa oleifera leave meal.

	Diets^d					p-Value
Parameters^e	MOLM0	MOLM5	MOLM10	MOLM15	SEM^e	Linear	Quadratic
Fillet colour
L* (lightness)	46.42^ab	47.78^ab	50.12^a	44.07^b	1.50	0.23	0.02
a* redness)	11.02	11.97	12.03	11.11	0.42	0.84	0.04
b* (yellowness)	11.05^b	13.63^a	14.38^a	11.11^b	0.52	0.30	<0.0001
Leg muscle colour
L* (lightness)	48.11	50.16	48.95	48.67	0.76	0.98	0.22
a* (redness)	11.23^ab	11.74^a	10.60^b	10.63^b	0.27	0.04	0.98
b* (yellowness)	12.64	12.02	12.41	11.63	0.54	0.25	0.91
pHu	5.88	5.94	5.20	5.42	0.10	0.08	0.45
Cooking loss (%)	40.48^a	29.80^b	18.47^c	17.18^c	3.44	0.0001	0.19
Drip loss (%)	59.45	51.93	48.78	46.05	4.81	0.95	0.07
Peak force (N)	0.49^a	0.36^b	0.25^c	0.32^b	0.04	0.003	0.02

^a,b,cIn a row, means with common superscripts do not differ (p < 0.05); ^dDiets: MOLM0: rabbit grower diet with 0% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM5: rabbit grower diet with 5% M. oleifera as substitute); MOLM10; rabbit grower diet with 10% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM15: rabbit grower diet with 15% of M. oleifera as substitute); ^eSEM: standard error of the mean.

Table 6. Sensory evaluation of meat of New Zealand white weaned rabbits fed diet containing Moringa oleifera leave meal.

	Diets^a					p-Value
Parameters	MOLM0	MOLM5	MOLM10	MOLM15	SEM^b	Linear	Quadratic
Aroma	5.6	5.3	6.1	5.9	0.4	0.03	0.74
Juiciness	5.7	5.3	5.6	5.9	0.3	0.04	0.33
First bite	5.8	5.6	5.8	6.1	0.4	0.24	0.51
Sustained juiciness	5.2	5.3	5.6	5.9	0.4	0.36	0.21
Overall tenderness	5.7	5.1	5.7	6.0	0.4	0.72	0.56
Connective tissue	4.6	4.1	5.0	4.7	0.4	0.05	0.77
Overall flavour	5.1	5.1	5.6	5.7	0.4	0.09	0.43
Typical favour	5.0	4.3	5.5	5.5	0.4	0.12	0.46

^aDiets: MOLM0: rabbit grower diet with 0% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM5: rabbit grower diet with 5% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM10: rabbit grower diet with 10% M. oleifera as substitute; MOLM15: rabbit grower diet with 15% of M. oleifera as substitute; ^bSEM: standard error of the mean.

Data availability statement

Analysed data is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.