The increase of ungulates due to environmental changes: meat quality of hunted meat

In Europe and in Italy wild ungulate populations are increasing dramatically mainly due to the increase of marginal lands and to the lack of predator; in recent decades, roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and mainly wild boar (Sus scropha) have expanded their home range and increased in abundance (Ramanzin et al., 2010). Nowadays, the presence of ungulates has exacerbated conflicts with human activities (damage to crops and garden, road accidents, etc), so it is necessary to limit the population growth mostly through hunting, with a consequent increase of meat disposable on the market. As regards quality and hygiene assurance, Regulations EC no 178/2002, 853/2004 and 854/2004 must be observed. Most interesting are the studies on meat quality parameters, both chemical and physical, because there is an enormous variability due to season, feed in the wild, age, etc. In central Italy wild boar meat is traditionally consumed for its high nutritional value and particularly sensory properties, which are desired by consumer (Strazdina et al., 2014). Due to the well know problems related to obesity, hypercholesterolemia and some cancer (Wood et al., 2003), it seems interesting to report some data on fat content and fatty acid composition. Recently a study was conducted on 42 meat quality samples, analysed for fatty acid and microbiological profiles (Russo et al., 2017). Gender and hunting age showed little differences on fat quality while the hunting month (from October to January) mostly influences the fatty acid profile of meat, which is probably due to the fact that, in the wild, there is no feed control. Generally, fatty acid content is not well balanced for human diet: nevertheless fat content is very low, so, even the possible negative effects are negligible. Wild boar meat seems to be of good microbiological quality, with health risks for the consumer comparable to those associated with meat obtained from farm animals. Some data are available even on fallow deer (Dama dama): even in this case, gender and hunting age did not modify fatty acid profile but, on the contrary, fatty acid content is well balanced (Russo et al., 2007). Actually, we are deepened our study on meat quality of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), but we still don’t have a sufficient number of samples. Considering that wild meat is a sporadic component of the diet, we think that it may take part of a well-balanced diet for human without any risk.