MEAT PERFORMANCE AND MEAT QUALITY OF WILD DUCKS (ANAS PLATYRHYNCHOS) REARED IN DOMESTIC CONDITIONS

The aim of the work was to evaluate the meat performance, colour and basic chemical composition (g.100 g-1 of water, protein, fat, and cholesterol) of the breast and thigh muscles (n=20) of the wild ducks reared in domestic conditions. The L* values of the wild ducks ranged from 32.86 (breast muscle) to 36.88 (thigh muscle). The a* value ranged from 10.70 (thigh muscle) to 11.96 (breast muscle). By evaluating the b* parameter, we observed a similar tendency as with the L* value. The highest b* values were measured in the thigh muscle (10.13) and lower in the breast muscle (7.49). The proportion of breast (36.41%) and thigh (21.33%) from the carcass weight of wild ducks is relatively high, and a high average carcass yield (74.03%) was also found. The water content varied from 71% (thigh muscle) to 72.52% (breast muscle). The average protein content of breast 24.11 g.100 g-1 and thigh muscle was 22.84 g.100 g-1. The higher fat content was measured in breast muscle (1.82 g.100 g-1) and lower (1.45 g.100 g-1) in thigh muscle. The cholesterol content in meat from wild ducks ranged from 0.049 g.100 g-1 (thigh muscle) to 0.051 g.100 g-1 (breast muscle).