CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CARCASS AND NUTRITIONAL VALUES OF BREED GRASSCUTTER MEAT (THRYONOMYS SWINDERIANUS) FED WITH PELLETS IN BENIN.

The aim is to evaluate the characteristics of the carcass and nutritional values of the meat of bred grasscutter fed with pellets.27 farmed grasscutters aged 7 months and of average weight 2.3 kg were used and divided into three groups of 9 grasscutters. The experimental device is a complete random block with three treatments and three replicates.At the end of the trial, one-third of the grasscutters were randomly selected from each group for determination of the carcass characteristics and nutritional value of the meat.Results showed that the live weight at slaughter of grasscutters varied from 2796 ± 35.07 g to 2876 ± 55.95 g (p>0.05).The difference was not significant between the cold carcass yield of grasscutters fed with the three pellets (p>0.05). However, it was significant between the warm carcass yield of bred grasscutters (p<0.05).The length of the carcass varied from 26.46 ± 0.57 cm to 27.82 ± 0.58 cm in the grasscutters with the pellets (p>0.05).The meat of grasscutters contains a crude protein content ranging from 17.26 ± 0.02 to 22.6 ± 0.02% and fat matter from 3.5 ± 0.07 to 7.05 ± 0.06%.The difference between the moisture, protein and fat matter content between meats of the grasscutters fed with the three pellets was significant (p<0.05).The grasscutters bred fed with pellets 1 and 3 contain the best protein levels and low fat content.They can be used in grasscutters breeding for the production of grasscutters meats of good nutritional qualities.