Abstract #T248

# T248
Proposal for standard methods and procedure for guinea pig carcass evaluation, jointing, and tissue separation.
Davinia Sánchez-Macías*1, Noemi Castro2, Miguel Rivero3, Anastasio Argüello2, Antonio Morales-delaNuez4, 1Department of Agroindustrial Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo, Riobamba, Chimborazo, Ecuador, 2Animal Science Department, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arucas, Las Palmas, Spain, 3Department of Veterinary Histology and Pathology, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arucas, Las Palmas, Spain, 4Facultad de Ciencia Pecuarias, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo, Riobamba, Chimborazo, Ecuador.

The South American guinea pig rodent has become a livestock animal acceptable for human consumption in different parts of the world. Its white meat has a great potential as a new protein source, and its social and economic importance for different human populations is considered key for development. Scarce data are found in the literature when the statistical livestock information is checked, and few researches have been done about morphological characteristics of guinea pigs carcasses. These works do not follow the same procedures, using different criteria, overall the jointing, making it difficult to compare different studies. The aim of the present study is to suggest a practical and normalized method to analyze the guinea pig carcass characteristics allowing their evaluation. It describes the main traits to be considered from the birth of the animal to the carcass analysis. This work concerns (1) growth, feeding, pre-slaughter and slaughter processing, (2) method for the definition, hanging and presentation of the carcass, (3) carcass morphological characteristics, (4) jointing procedure based on 4 anatomically defined regions, (5) methods for 20 evaluating meat pH and color and (6) method for tissue separation. This proposal could be useful to compare data of these animals under different conditions.

Key Words: guinea pig, carcass, jointing