THE AMINO ACID AND FATTY ACID PROFILE OF EUROPEAN BADGER (MELES MELES) MEAT

The aim of the present study was to quantify the amino acid and fatty acid composition of European badger (Meles meles). Biological material consisted of 12 individuals of both sexes, harvested from hunting grounds in Slovakia. An automatic analyzer, AAA 400, was used to determine the amino acid profile, and for the measurement of the fatty acid profile, the gas chromatography FAME synthesis was used. In our study, we observed that the most prevalent amino acids in badger meat were Lys (2.17 +/- 0.26 g.100 g-1), Leu (1.93 +/- 0.23 g.100 g-1), and Arg (1.61 +/- 0.19 g.100 g-1). Unsaturated fatty acids dominated the fatty acids profile of badger meat. The most prevalent group was MUFA (46.57 +/- 1.47 g.100 g-1). Our results conclude that badger meat could be an interesting addition to a human diet because of its favorable fatty acid composition.