Social, ethical, environmental, economic and technological aspects of rabbit meat production - A critical review

Rabbit (RM) has become a valuable source of nutrients since the 1970s, helping to transform the European food industry into the largest RM producer in the world. However, the RM industry is experiencing a critical period of ethical imbalance. This trend, described as feed conversion ratio, impacts the environmental and financial performance of RM farms, which could lead to an increase production of industrial waste. In addition, the loss of corporate ethical responsibility and sustainable development by RM-oriented companies has further exacerbated the situation. Our objective was to summarize current trends in the RM industry and markets, highlighting possible strengths and weaknesses. This review shows current approaches in sustainable techniques in RM production processes, ethical issue, environmental and processing responsibility of RM producers, as well as social responsibilities and ethical practices of slaughterhouses and RM producers, sustainable environmental practices of slaughterhouses, technological aspects and safety of RM and social drivers in RM market. The analysis of reviewed literature revealed the potential strategies for sustainable RM production.

Mass transfer enhancement of tuna brining with different NaCl concentrations assisted by ultrasound

The influence of different NaCl concentrations (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10% (w/w)) on the mass transfer kinetics of tuna during brining process with and without ultrasound assistance was evaluated. Results showed that an increase in NaCl concentration and the application of ultrasound accelerated the salt diffusion in the tuna muscle, and the highest yield was obtained in 5% brine concentration. Moreover, the kinetics parameters were significantly affected by the NaCl concentration and ultrasound application during brining. The values of the mass transfer kinetics parameters (k₁, k₂) for total and water weight changes decreased as NaCl concentration increased with and without ultrasound assistance during brining. In contrast, the higher the NaCl concentration, the higher the value of the salting kinetics parameters for salt weight changes. The application of ultrasound enhanced the salt effective diffusion coefficient (De) from 402.8% to 653.21% during the brining process, and the highest De was also found at 5% brine concentration. The application of ultrasound can improve the uniformity of salt distribution, enhance water holding capacity, reduce hardness and chewiness, but have no significant effect on color of tuna muscle.

An underlying softening mechanism in pale, soft and exudative - Like rabbit meat: The role of reactive oxygen species - Generating systems

This work investigated the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) - generating systems on the softening of the pale, soft and exudative-like (PSE-like) rabbit meat during aging. PSE-like meat was induced by incubation of post-mortem rabbit Longissimus thoracis et lumborum at 37 °C for 3 h. During aging, PSE-like meat samples had higher values in peroxides value, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, metmyoglobin percentage, ferrylmyoglobin content, non-heme iron content, hydroxyl radical content and ROS concentration compared with the normal ones, suggesting that PSE-like incubation could activate lipid-oxidizing system, myoglobin-mediated oxidation system, together with metal-catalyzed oxidation system. Additionally, higher protein carbonyl content was observed in PSE-like meat, along with a significant loss in sulfhydryl group. The results of SDS-PAGE suggested that more serious protein degradation occurred in PSE-like meat. It is plausible that the activated ROS-generating system played an underlying role in the softening texture during the aging period of PSE-like meat.