EN
The aim of the study was to compare the values of selected parameters of post-slaughter carcass evaluation and rabbit meat quality indices (protein, fat and water content) depending on the type of diet used. The experiment involved 12 rabbit - crossbreeds at the age of 2 months and at a body weight of 1.5 kg. The animals were divided into two groups with regard to the type of diet administered. Group I consisted of rabbits fed on an all-mash diet, whereas group II was fed according to the typical ecological model. After 7 months of the experiment all the animals were slaughtered and afterwards the slaughter analysis was performed taking into consideration the following: pre-slaughter body weight, hot carcass weight, weight of the stomach (with or without digesta). After the cooling of the carcasses, muscle samples of the saddle and the thigh were taken for subsequent analyses. Meat quality was estimated on the basis of the determination of protein, fat and water content. It was found that the diet significantly influenced fat and water content in rabbit meat. The muscle samples taken from the ecologically fed rabbits (group II) had a higher water level (saddle - 73.58%; thigh - 74.87%) and a lower fat content (saddle - 1.31%; thigh - 1.51%) compared to the samples taken from the rabbits fed on granulated feed. No significant differences in protein content between the two experimental groups were found. The slaughter yield in both groups did not exceed 50%. The higher but statistically unconfirmed slaughter yield was obtained from rabbits fed ecologically.