Influence of Spirulina Platensis in the composition of feed on the content of heavy metals in rabbit meat

An important area for the further development of animal husbandry is to provide humanity with environmentally friendly food. One way to reduce the content of heavy metals in livestock products in general and meat in particular is to feed some feed products that have sorbent properties. For this purpose, a scientific and economic experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding compound feeds containing 0.5–2% Spirulina platensis to rabbits raised for meat. The experimental period of the research lasted from the 60th to the 120th day of life of young rabbits and ended with a control slaughter. During this period, the live weight of the rabbits, their safety and the amount of feed consumed were monitored. During the control slaughter, the chemical composition of the longest back muscle was studied, as well as the content of Lead and Cadmium. According to the results of the experiment it was found that the introduction of compound feed rabbits Spirulina platensis in doses of 0.5–2.0% helps to improve their growth, reduce the content of Cadmium and Lead in meat, reduce the fat content in it and increase the proportion of dry matter and protein. It should be noted that the highest productivity of rabbits was achieved at a feed content of 1.5% of Spirulina platensis, ahead of control counterparts by 7.8% (P<0.01). Instead, the lowest concentration of heavy metals in meat was recorded at the content of 2.0% of the specified feed: Cadmium by 34.1% (P<0.01), and Lead – by 25.9% (P<0.001) less than the control indexes. As for the chemical composition of meat, the highest protein and the lowest fat in it was recorded at 1.5% Spirulina platensis in the feed. Compared to control animals, rabbit meat in this group contained 1.2% more protein and 0.7% (P<0.01) less fat. Thus, 1.5% of Spirulina platensis in the feed for rabbits raised for meat can be considered the optimal proportion.