Ácidos graxos do conteúdo cecal e da carne de coelhos alimentados com ração contendo quitosana ou probiótico

Abstract

The objective of this study was to verify the effect of including probiotics and chitosan in diets of growing rabbits on the cecotrophic and meat lipid profile. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Farm of Agricultural Sciences at UFGD. Twenty-four white New Zealand rabbits, 60 days old, housed in individual cages, were used. The treatments consisted of the supply of a control diet, without addition of additives (CON), and two diets containing 4g/kg of chitosan DM (QUI) and 4g/kg of probiotic DM (PRO). The experimental diets were isonitrogenated and balanced for growing animals. Water was provided ad libidum and the ration, previously weighed, was made available three times a day, at 07:00, 12:00 and 17:00. After the 45 experimental days, the animals were euthanized (CEUA/UFGD, protocol nº 16/2018). To evaluate the cecotrophic lipid profile and meat, samples of cecotrophs were collected on days 15, 30 and 45 of the experimental periods and the meat after slaughter. The fatty acid profile was analyzed by gas chromatography using SP-2560 silica capillary column and standard (CRM-164, Commission of the European Communities, Community Reference Bureau, Brussels, Belgium). After analysis of variance, it was found that there was an increase in oleic (P = 0.018) and linoleic (P = 0.013) acids in the cecotroph of rabbits fed with additives compared to the CON group, consequently, the unsaturated S (P = 0.003), S monounsaturated (P = 0.013) and polyunsaturated (P = 0.006) were also increased by the addition of additives. When comparing QUI and PRO, there was a decrease in myristic (P = 0.006) and palmitic (P = 0.043) in animals fed diets containing QUI, then in the PRO group, with no effect (P>0.05) for other acids cecotrophic fatty acids evaluated. Regarding the fatty acid profile of the meat, the animals fed with additives showed a 17% decrease in arachidonic acid (P = 0.022), an increase of 2% and 6.6% in behenic acid (P = 0.032) and erucic acid (P = 0.025), respectively, compared to the CON group. There was a decrease (P = 0.045) of linoleic acid in the meat of animals fed with QUI compared to the PRO diet, as a consequence, the Omega-6 (P = 0.045) and UFA/SFA (P = 0.071) ratio also decreased for animals of the CHI group compared to the PRO group. Also, CHI increased erucic acid (P = 0.017) and decreased the hypocholesterolemic index (P = 0.031) compared to rabbits fed PRO. These results indicate that the probiotic improved the fatty acid profile in the caecal content and in the meat of rabbits, when compared to the treatment containing chitosan.