World Rabbit Science

Rabbit meat quality with an approach to its processing using spices or specific ingredients as antioxidants

Simone Mancini — 2025-06-30

Due to its low lipid content and high amounts of essential amino acids, rabbit meat is known for its excellent nutritional qualities, being very digestible and ideal for use in healthy diets. Unfortunately, rabbit meat has one of the highest lipid peroxidation susceptibilities, which restricts its use in processed food. Additionally, rabbit meat has some technological peculiarities that make it more challenging to incorporate into processed meat products, such as fragile bones, poor juiciness and a marginal anise-like flavour. But there may still be a demand for rabbit meat today. It might also be suggested as a substitute for traditional meat-based products, which are typically made with beef and pork, particularly for young children and the elderly. Moreover, ready-to-cook products, such as meatballs and burgers, may be well received by customers and new market trends could also emerge. The addition of spices can help improve the flavour and appeal of processed products made from rabbit meat while also increasing the antioxidant content and boosting nutritious value and shelf life. Furthermore, the use of natural antioxidants (spices) responds to the growing attention shown by consumers and food industries to avoid the use of synthetic molecules that diminish the products’ appeal.

Core gut microbiota in rabbit: opportunities to strengthen the intestinal barrier

Sylvie Combes — 2025-06-30

The symbiotic relationship between the intestinal microbiota and its host is crucial to the development and functioning of both partners. The microbiota plays a key role in the development and physiology of its host (nutrition, growth, health and cognition). In turn, the host shapes the microbiota, according to factors that are intrinsic or dependent on its environment. However, the definition of an optimal microbiota that maximises ecosystem services (host benefits) has yet not been established. The symbiotic relationship between the microbiota and its host is based on a complex molecular dialogue at the level of the intestinal epithelium and the underlying mucosal immune system. These interactions condition the establishment of an intestinal barrier, limiting colonisation by microbial pathogens and thereby guaranteeing health. In this review, we propose a ‘core’ rabbit microbiota definition through a re-analysis of available opensource data. Based on the association between the abundance of bacterial taxa and host traits, we attempt to identify microbiota key species that would likely be involved in growth performance and health. Then, we describe the components of the intestinal barrier and the host-microbiota interaction mechanisms. Finally, we propose early in life nutritional levers to strengthen this intestinal barrier and thereby enhance the health of young rabbits before weaning.

Challenges and opportunities for precision livestock farming applications in the rabbit production sector

Tomás Norton — 2025-06-30

Precision livestock farming (PLF) is an established field in many livestock sectors. However, when it comes to rabbit production, it is still emerging. Nevertheless, we believe that the rapid advancements in sensor technologies, data analytics and automation we are witnessing can bring significant and transformative opportunities to the rabbit farming industry. Within this context, this paper explores the potential use of PLF for the rabbit sector. We start by briefly reviewing the current state of the art of PLF applications in other livestock sectors, such as dairy and pig farming, focusing on remote sensing solutions. Then we outline how different technologies can potentially be adapted for rabbit production. Recent rabbit research studies that implement PLF-like technology are then reviewed. We finalise by discussing the challenges of implementing PLF in rabbit farming, including the need for tailored solutions that consider rabbits’ specific behavioural and physiological characteristics. When considering the future impact of PLF, early disease detection probably offers the highest potential for rabbit production. Being able to automatically detect early signs of digestive disorders around weaning, particularly in large group-housed growing rabbits where disease spread is a concern, would represent a significant step forward. Additionally, PLF tools can enhance rabbit breeding and genetic programmes by providing detailed and accurate individual phenotypic data. Data can be then used to better define animal management practices that promote positive experiences and affective states, reducing negative social interactions. Besides, precision feeding models could contribute to enhancing feed efficiency for both growing and reproductive rabbits, reducing the negative environmental impact of feeding. To this end, camera monitoring, sound analysis, electronic feeders, accelerometers and other biometric and physiological monitoring technologies can be utilised. The integration of PLF technologies promises to support farmers in meeting the increasingly stringent welfare regulations across the European Union, ultimately enhancing the sustainability and profitability of rabbit production systems. Further research is needed to address the challenges that remain in developing and validating reliable algorithms so that sensors can be used more effectively in diverse rabbit farm conditions.

Utilization of rabbit skin as edible film for environmentally friendly food packaging using glycerol as plasticizer

Jajang Gumilar — 2025-06-30

The growing rabbit population has directly contributed to increased meat yields and higher production of by-products, including skins. The skin of local Indonesian rabbits is mostly used as fish feed and fertilizer due to the relatively poor quality of their fur. Rabbit skin can potentially be used as a more economical product such as edible film, due to its high protein content of 67.3% and collagen content of 28.8%. Protein and collagen from rabbit skin can be produced into good quality gelatine. Gelatine plays a vital role in developing biodegradable edible film packaging materials. Gelatine films offer a strong barrier against light, air and odour transfer, but they can be too brittle as packaging materials. This problem needs to be overcome by adding plasticizers such as glycerol. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of glycerol on the functional groups and physical, mechanical and colour properties of edible films made from rabbit skin gelatine. This experiment employed a completely randomised design with five glycerol treatments (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50%). Each treatment was replicated four times. Data were analysed using ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test. The results show that there is a good affinity between biopolymers from rabbit skin gelatine and glycerol as indicated by the formation of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) bands. The level of glycerol used has a significant effect (P<0.05) on the mechanical, physical and colour properties. The best edible film from rabbit skin gelatine is produced with 10% glycerol.