The composition of tail muscle fatty acids from wild and cultured bluefin tuna reared on a diet based on herring and sardine, along with the plasma lipid profile of the farmed individuals, was determined. The total lipid content of farmed bluefin in this study was 0.922 g/100 g or 3.49 g of saturated fatty acids (SAFA), 4.48 g of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), 2.58 g polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) n-3 and 0.37 g of PUFA n-6 fatty acids; for wild specimens, it was 0.920 g/100 g, or 2.85 g of SAFA, 4.82 g of MUFA, 2.78 g PUFA n-3 and 0.27 g of PUFA n-6 fatty acids. The major fatty acids in this study were 16:0; 16:1, n-7; 18:1, n-9 and DHA 22:6, n-3 acids. The sum of these major components accounted for more than 57% and 80% of the total fatty acids in all the samples of farmed and wild tuna respectively. No significant differences in the proximate composition were demonstrated between farmed and wild samples, except for the energy value, in favour of the farmed tuna. Statistically, glucose tends to increase together with cholesterol (CHOL) and plasma triglyceride, as for these pairs, it showed positive correlation coefficients and P>0.05. Some measured tuna metabolites demonstrated strong mutual correlations, especially GLU, CHOL and TRIG, which are crucial factors in the lipid profile of animals.

In this study, the presence of Listeria monocytogenes was assessed along the production process of fermented sausages in a small-scale facility. Following the isolation of the pathogen from the final product (ISO 11290-1), retrospective sampling was performed during the production of a new batch of sausages, including raw materials, casings, additives, sausage mixtures, sausages during fermentation, and environmental samples. L. monocytogenes was recovered from the following sampling points: the defrosting room and the cuttering, mixing, stuffing, and fermentation phases. Ten strains were isolated, molecularly confirmed as L. monocytogenes by means of a molecular detection system, and subjected to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing. On the basis of an unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram from Ascl pulsotypes, the strains were indistinguishable (no band difference). The same pulsotypes of strains present in both batches of sausages, as well as in environmental samples, indicated the persistence of L. monocytogenes in the sausage production unit.

The effects of castration on growth performance, carcass characteristics and chemical composition of m. iliotibilais cranialis and m. pectoralis superficialis of pheasants were examined. Forty pheasants reared in commercial pheasantry were included in the experiment. Half of the pheasants were castrated at 8 weeks of age. Values for live weight tended to be higher in castrated pheasants in the 24th week (P<0.1) and values for weight gain were significantly higher between the 16th and 24th weeks (P<0.05). Feed-to-gainratio (8th – 32nd week) was significantly better (P<0.05) in castrated pheasants. Eviscerated weight and dressing percentage at 32nd week were not significantly different between treatments. The chemical composition of m. iliotibilais cranialis and m. pectoralis superficialis showed significantly higher values of fat (P<0.01) and moisture (P<0.05) in castrated pheasants in comparison with intact ones. Protein content of both muscles was higher in intact pheasants (P<0.05). Body part weights were not influenced by the treatment with the exception of heart weight, which was significantly higher in the intact pheasants (P<0.05). We concluded that castration tended to improve growth performance only in the first 24 weeks of the fattening period and, therefore, continuation of fattening after that period is no longer feasible. The most important characteristic of the castrated pheasant’s meat was an increased amount of fat. More studies under different feeding and alternative breeding systems are necessary to improve production