Animal Production and Industrialization Research Unit, Engineering Faculty, Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo, Riobamba, EC060150, Ecuador.
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, Guayaquil, EC090104, Ecuador.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2024 Aug 3;56(7):228. doi: 10.1007/s11250-024-04070-3.
Culling of guinea pigs can provide a large number of animals per year for meat production, but little information is available in the scientific literature on the carcass characteristics and non-carcass components of these animals. The objective of this study was to evaluate the carcass and non-carcass characteristics of cull guinea pigs in comparison to their fattening counterparts. Forty-eight fattening (3 months-age, 24 females and 24 males) and forty-eight cull (14 months-age, 24 females and 24 males) guinea pigs were slaughtered and carcass yield, linear measurements, tissular composition, and non-carcass components were evaluated. In general, cull guinea pigs had higher carcass, tissue, and non-carcass component weights. Cull male and both female guinea pig groups had similar carcass yields. Cull animals had higher carcass and hind leg lengths, lumbar and thoracic circumferences, and carcass compactness than their young counterparts. However, a sex effect was found for leg compactness depending on whether they were fattened or cull. Tissue percentages values were similar between fattening and culling animals of the same sex. However, females had a higher percentage of fat tissue than males. Fattening females had the best muscle to bone ratio, followed by cull males. The non-carcass elements were more represented in fattening animals than in culls, probably due to an allometric growth of the viscera in relation to the rest of the body. In commercial and cooking terms, this information is valuable for producers and researchers who need to understand the factors that influence carcass characteristics of guinea pigs.
淘汰的豚鼠可以每年提供大量的肉类生产用动物，但在科学文献中，关于这些动物的胴体特征和非胴体成分的信息很少。本研究的目的是评估淘汰豚鼠与育肥豚鼠的胴体和非胴体特征。将 48 只育肥豚鼠（3 月龄，24 只雌性和 24 只雄性）和 48 只淘汰豚鼠（14 月龄，24 只雌性和 24 只雄性）进行屠宰，评估胴体产率、线性测量、组织组成和非胴体成分。一般来说，淘汰豚鼠的胴体、组织和非胴体成分重量更高。淘汰的雄性和雌性豚鼠组的胴体产率相似。淘汰动物的胴体和后腿长度、腰椎和胸椎周长以及胴体紧实度都高于年轻动物。然而，根据动物是育肥还是淘汰，腿紧实度存在性别效应。育肥和淘汰的同性别豚鼠的组织百分比值相似。然而，雌性的脂肪组织百分比高于雄性。育肥雌性的肌肉与骨骼比例最好，其次是淘汰雄性。非胴体元素在育肥动物中比在淘汰动物中更为代表，这可能是由于内脏器官与身体其他部分的生长比例不同。在商业和烹饪方面，这些信息对需要了解影响豚鼠胴体特征的因素的生产者和研究人员很有价值。
