PHYSICOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF BADGER (MELES MELES) MEAT

The aim of the work was to evaluate the colour and basic chemical composition (% of water, protein, fat and cholesterol) of the muscles: back (m. longissimus dorsi - MLD), shoulder (m. deltoideus - MD) and thigh (m. semimembranosus - MSM) (n=12) of the European badger. The L* values of the European badger ranged from 31.02 (MLD) to 36.81 (MSM) and significant differences (P≤0.05) were observed between the MSM and MD, respectively MLD. The a* value ranged from 12.60 (MD) to 13.80 (MSM). By evaluating the b* parameter, we observed a similar tendency as with the L* value. The highest values were measured in the MSM (11.17) and lower in the MD (8.58), respectively MLD (8.10). The water content varied from 73.13% (MLD) to 74.11% (MD) with no significant differences between the monitored muscles of the European badger (P≥0.05). The average protein content of MD, MLD and MSM was 22.67 g.100 g-1, whereas the highest content of protein was recorded in MLD (22.77 g.100 g-1) (P≥0.05). The highest fat content was measured in MSM (2.06 g.100 g-1) and the lowest (0.95 g.100 g-1) in MD. We observed significant differences (P≤0.05) in fat content of MLD and MD compared to MSM. The cholesterol content in meat from wild European badgers hunted in Slovakia ranged from 0.52 g.100 g-1 (MD) to 0.61 g.100 g-1 (MSM). The significant differences (P≤0.05) were between the MSM and MD.