This work aimed to evaluate the effect of the factors sex and different slaughter weight ranges (30-40kg, 40-50kg, 50-60kg) on the lipid content and fatty acids profiles of capybara meat. The samples were constituted of the cranial portion of the longissimus dorsi muscle of 28 capybaras (16 males and 12 females), from the same farm. The analyses were carried out at the Meats and Derived Quality Certification Laboratory of the Food Technology Institute - ITAL, in SP. The lipids were extracted using chloroform/ methanol (2:1 (v/v) mixture), following the methodology of Folch et al. (1957), and the composition of fatty acids analysed by gas chromatography (Bragagnolo, 1997). The raw loin of capybara presented 0,82% of lipids. There was significant difference (P <0,05) among the lipid content of males (0,65%) and females (1,09%). The fatty acids found in larger proportion were C18:2w6 (18,78%), C16:0 (16,38%), C18:0 (11,13%), C18:1w9 (10,91%), C20:0 (8,43%) and C20:4w6 (6,66%). There was no significant difference (P>0,05) among the contents of these fatty acids in males and females, and in the different slaughter weight ranges. A few significant differences between the factors sex and slaughter weight ranges were noticed in minor fatty acids. Comparing to the domestic species, the capybara meat analyzed in this work presented low total lipid content and high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Hydrochaeris; capybara; meat; lipid; fatty-acid
