Quality of donkey meat and carcass characteristics

A study based on 15 entire donkey males was carried out to evaluate carcass quality and nutritional characteristics of meat obtained by these animals slaughtered at 15 months of age and a mean final body weight of 181 kg. The meat had a low (2.02 g/100 g) fat content, an appreciable (22.8 g/100 g) protein content, and cholesterol content was 68.7 mg/100 g. Glycogen was also determined (0.45 g/100 g) within 12 h of sampling. Potassium was the mineral with the highest content (343 mg/100 g), followed by phosphorus (212 mg/100 g), sodium (52 mg/100 g) and magnesium (24 mg/100 g). Donkey meat obtained from young animals can be considered a good alternative to other red meats and not only for the production salami, or other fermented meat products.