Abstract:

The effect of slaughter age (60, 70 and 80 days) on carcass and meat quality of Hyla rabbits was investigated.
Slaughter weight, hot carcass weight, chill carcass weight, reference carcass weight, dressing percentage, perirenal fat/
reference carcass weight ratio, dissectional fat/reference carcass weight ratio revealed a significant increase with slaughter
age (P < 0.05), whereas carcass drip loss exhibited a significant decrease (P < 0.05). pH24 h showed a downward trend with
the extension of slaughter age. Lightness (L*) and redness (a*) of biceps femoris (BF) muscle had no difference between
70 and 80 days. Similarly, L* and a* values of longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle showed no difference among three ages.
Water-holding capacity and shear force of LL muscle had no difference between 70 and 80 days, while lower values were
observed when Hyla rabbits were slaughtered at the age of 60 days. Cooking loss significantly decreased with increasing
slaughter age in LL muscle (P < 0.05). In LL and hind leg muscles, the contents of crude protein and crude ash exhibited no
difference at different slaughter ages, while crude fat content significantly increased and water content slightly decreased
with the extension of slaughter age. These results showed growth potential of Hyla rabbits was not fully developed when
they were slaughtered at 60 days old, and good slaughter benefit was achieved at the age of 70 days, whereas eating quality
of carcass and muscle was improved at the age of 80 days.

Key words: Hyla rabbits, age, carcass, meat, quality characteristics