Carcass characteristics and qualitative meat traits of three Italian local chicken breeds

Summary

1. An experiment involving 60 male chickens reared in an organic production system was carried out in order to investigate carcass characteristics and qualitative meat traits of three slow-growing Italian local breeds of chicken (Ermellinata, Padovana, and Pépoi). 2. Chicks were randomly selected at hatch, raised together under the same conditions, slaughtered at 190 days of age, dissected for carcass traits, and meat (breast and thigh) was stored for subsequent analysis of quality parameters. 3. Ermellinata chickens were significantly different from Padovana and Pépoi chickens for live, carcass and thigh weights. Breeds were also different for breast muscle protein content (Ermellinata > Pépoi and Padovana, p<0.05), shear force (Padovana < Ermellinata and Pépoi, p<0.05) and cooking loss (Pépoi > Padovana and Ermellinata, p<0.05) values. 4. The CIE system values of lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) evidenced a distinctive darker meat and lighter skin colour of Padovana breast meat. 5. Polyunsaturated fatty acids composition of breast meat was similar among the analysed breeds, while saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid contents of Ermellinata were higher and lower, respectively, than the other breeds.