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. 2020 Oct 16;9(10):1480.
doi: 10.3390/foods9101480.

Impact of Dietary Supplementation with Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum) on Microbiological Quality, Physico-Chemical, and Sensory Characteristics of Rabbit Meat

Marta Castrica  1 , Laura Menchetti  2   3 , Claudia M Balzaretti  1 , Raffaella Branciari  3 , David Ranucci  3 , Elisa Cotozzolo  4 , Daniele Vigo  5 , Giulio Curone  5 , Gabriele Brecchia  5 , Dino Miraglia  3
Affiliations

Impact of Dietary Supplementation with Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum) on Microbiological Quality, Physico-Chemical, and Sensory Characteristics of Rabbit Meat

Marta Castrica et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Forty-two New Zealand White rabbits (n = 21/group) were fed with two different diets: a commercial diet (control group) and a diet supplemented with goji berries (3% w/w). After slaughtering, the effect of dietary supplementation on microbiological, physico-chemical, and sensory characteristics of the rabbit loins, packed in an oxygen-permeable package, was evaluated at 6 h post mortem (day 0), after 4 and 10 days of refrigerated storage. No relevant results were obtained for pH and total volatile basic Nitrogen (TVBN) values but with regards to the color, some significant differences were observed between the groups. The goji berries (GBs) dietary supplementation had positive effects by reducing thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values in all the observations (p < 0.001). Moreover, microbiological results showed that the supplementation had a significant impact on Lactobacillus spp. (p < 0.001) prevalence, indeed the goji group had higher means on day 0 (p < 0.05) and on day 4 (p < 0.001) than the control group. Lastly, with regards to the consumer's test, the tasters assigned a higher score to GBs rabbit meatballs and the purchase interest increased when the rabbit diet was known. Overall, these results indicate that the goji berries inclusion in the rabbit diet could represent a valuable strategy to improve quality and sensory traits of meat.

Keywords: goji berries; microbiological quality; rabbit meat; sensory characteristics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of Goji berries inclusion in the diet of rabbits on meat color. Total color difference (ΔE) and differences in lightness (ΔL), redness (Δa), and yellowness (Δb) between groups (control–Goji) at slaughtering and at day 4 and 10 of shelf-life. The dashed line indicates the threshold of human noticeable differences for (>2.3 points) for ΔE.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of Goji berries inclusion in the diet of rabbits on counts of mesophilic aerobic bacteria (A), Lactococcus spp. (B), Enterobacteriaceae (C), total coliforms (D), and Lactobacillus spp. (E) on meat at slaughtering (Day 0), day 4, and 10 of shelf-life. The bar graphs show mean ± standard error. Anomalies in the error bars are due to the low prevalence. *: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Population pyramids that show the absolute number of rabbit’s meat units containing colonies of Lactococcus spp. (A), Enterobacteriaceae (B), Pseudomonas spp. (C), total coliforms. (D), and Lactobacillus spp. (E). The limit of detection was 1 Log CFU/g.
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