Effects of Pennisetum americanumP.purpureume on growth andfatty acid component of meat rabbit

Effects of Pennisetum americanumP.purpureume meal on the growth and meat quality of meat rabbit were studied by a randomized block experiment with 30 Fujian yellow rabbits (initial BW =1 742.2298.96 g ) which were divided into 3 groups with different Pennisetum americanumP.purpureum meal levels (Group 1, 10%; Group 2,30%; and Group 3, 50%), 5 replicates in each group, and 2 rabbits for each replicate. The results showed that, with the increasing of forage content, the average daily gain and carcass weight were decreased significantly(P0.05). However，there were signifcant differences among three groups (P0.05) for dressing percentage. The linolenic acid (ALA) content of rabbit meat increased significantly with increasing forage proportion in diets.Compared with Group 1, the ALA contents of rabbit meat increased 240.35% (Group 2) and 452.63% (Group 3) (P0.05),respectively. Besides, polyunsaturated fatty acids/saturated fatty acids (PUFA/SFA) obviously increased (P0.05), while n6 PUFA/n3 PUFA content decreased (P0.05).