Further processing characteristics of breast and leg meat from fast-, medium- and slow-growing commercial chickens

Abstract

Standard fast-growing (FG), 'label' slow-growing (SG), and medium growing (MG) chicken crosses were grown until their market ages: 6, 8 and 12 weeks, respectively. They were compared for carcass and muscle traits and meat processing ability. The breasts of 6wk-FG birds contained less protein, more fat and muscle fibres with larger diameters than those of 8wk-MG and 12wk-SG birds. The pH 15 and pH u values of breast and thigh muscle were the highest in the 6wk-FG and the lowest in the 12wk-SG. The latter exhibited higher breast drip loss compared with the 6wk-FG. During processing, the highest curing-cooking yields were obtained with the breast and leg meat from 6wk-FG and the lowest with that from the 12wk-SG. As a consequence of their reduced water holding ability, the processed meat from the 12wk-SG exhibited the lowest moisture and the white curedcooked meat showed the driest texture and the best slice cohesiveness. This study suggests that processing ability and processed product characteristics of breast and leg meats are greatly related to the chicken type of production, with fast growing birds being more adapted to further processing than slow growing ones in terms of profitability.