Food security has become especially acute for the population of Ukraine. The quality and safety of rabbit meat depends on the welfare of the animals during production, and the meat productivity is determined by genetic heredity, conditions of keeping, feeding and well-being. Rabbit meat can reduce the dose of internal radiation of the population, because it practically does not accumulate radionuclides. According to our research, the content of 137Cs and 90Sr in the meat of 4-month-old rabbits raised on the territories contaminated with radionuclides as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was, respectively: 8.8±0.8 Bq/kg and 3.5±0.7 Bq/kg. In older rabbits, the content of 137Cs and 90Sr, respectively, was at the level of: 12.3±1.2 Bq/kg and 8.2±1.5 Bq/kg (according to DR-2006, respectively, 200 Bq/kg and 20 Bq/kg). According to the results of our research, live weight, slaughter weight, weight of muscle tissue and bones, muscularity of carcasses depend on the season, age and breed characteristics. To increase productivity and improve the quality of rabbit meat, it is advisable to use interbreed crossing for the purpose of enriching the heredity of one of the breeds on the basis of two or more. According to the results of our research, the highest slaughter weight (P < 0.01) was found in 4-month-old crossbred rabbits of the first generation (♀ California × ♂ Flanders) and was 56.56±0.20%, while their counterparts it was at the level of 49.65±0.55% of the Californian precocious breed. According to special criteria of meat productivity, crossbred rabbits of the first generation also prevailed over the parent breeds. In particular, their confusion index was 79.82±0.23%, while it was at the level of 77.08±0.08% in Flanders. Therefore, crossbreds of the first generation received maturity from the maternal line, and greater fleshiness is from the paternal line. Rabbit meat can be considered as a highly nutritious, dietary "functional" food that provides all the necessary biologically active substances, practically does not accumulate radionuclides, and therefore has a beneficial effect on human health and is an important reserve in solving food security in Ukraine.
Key words: food safety, productive qualities of rabbits, rabbit meat, nutritional properties and biological value, dietary highly nutritious product.
