Cholesterol content and fatty acid composition of ostrich meat as influenced by subspecies.

Two muscles, the m. gastrocnemius and m. iliofibularis, were excised from the left legs of six Red Neck (Struthio camelus massaicus) and six Blue Neck (Struthio camelus australis) ostriches and analysed for lipid and cholesterol content and fatty acid composition. Total lipid (1.43 g 100g ) and cholesterol content (65.63 mg 100g ) did not differ (ps> 0.05) in any muscle between subspecies. Although the percentage of some individual fatty acids differed (p < 0.05), the total percentage of saturated fatty acids and total monounsaturated fatty acids was similar (p > 0.05) between subspecies in both muscles. Although the percentage total polyunsaturated fatty acids was higher (p < 0.05) in Blue Necks (23.78%) than in Red Necks (23.65%) in the m. gastrocnemius, but not (p > 0.05) in the m, iliofibularis, the difference of 0.13% is probably of no practical significance.