Fatty acid profiles in meat from Caiman yacare ( Caiman crocodilus yacare) raised in the wild or in captivity

• Published in: Meat science Vol. 85; no. 4; pp. 752 - 758
• Main Authors: Vicente-Neto, João, Bressan, Maria Cristina, Faria, Peter Bitencourt, e Vieira, Josye Oliveira, Cardoso, Maria das Graças, Glória, Maria Beatriz de Abreu, da Gama, Luis Telo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alligators and Crocodiles; Animals; Animals, Wild; Biological and medical sciences; Body Composition; Dietary Fats - analysis; Dietary Proteins - analysis; Farming; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - analysis; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - analysis; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Indigenous; Meat - analysis; Meat and meat product industries; Muscle Proteins - analysis; Neck; Tail; Water; Wild; Yacare; Wild; Indigenous; Fatty acids; Yacare; Farming; Meat product; Lipids; Meat
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2010.03.036

Chemical composition and fatty acid profiles were determined in Caiman yacare meat originating from the neck and tail cuts of animals raised in the wild ( n = 6) or in captivity ( n = 6), slaughtered at a live weight of approximately 6 kg. All experimental methods were approved by the appropriate environmental protection agencies. Most chemical components were affected by the origin-cut interaction, with the tail cut of wild animals having the highest amount of intramuscular fat (19.2% of DM) and the lowest of moisture (71.8%) and protein (77.0% of DM). Yacare meat had low amounts of SFA (35.1%), which were similar ( P > 0.05) in the cuts and origins studied. The total amount of PUFA was higher ( P < 0.05) in wild (31.0%) than in captive animals (23.6%), and n − 3 fatty acids had means of about 5% and 2% for the same groups, respectively ( P < 0.05). In general, the FA profile of intramuscular fat in yacare meat had a desirable PUFA/SFA ratio above 0.4.