Hepatic steatosis in waterfowl

Abstract

The ability to retain fat during cooking is the main technological quality of “foie gras”. Melting rate results in exudation, essentially of lipidic nature which takes place during the heat treatments of conservation. Different methods that assess the melting rate are available and generally the correlations between them are significant. Variability of technological yield is high. The variation factors identified are the animal and its genetic type parameters related to the breeding period, over-feeding period or the conditions surrounding the slaughter of animals. Studies have also highlighted a link between technological performance and parameters related to the animal (genetic line and genetic characteristics of animals) and to the liver (liver weight and chemical composition). Finally, research on the biological determinism of the variability of melting rate has led to propoing a mechanism linked to the level of hepatic steatosis at the time of slaughter.