The Influence of Dietary Citrus Peel on Performances, Carcass Traits, Color, Texture and Primary Oxidation Products of Broiler Chicken Thigh Meat

Abstract

In this study, 126 Cobb 500 commercial broiler chicks were fed a control basal (C) diet (corn-soy basal diet on an ad libitum basis) alone or with two different citrus peel. A completely randomized design with 42 chickens was used to investigate the effect of 2% orange peel (OP) or 2% grapefruit peel (GP) on broiler performances and thigh meat quality. The treatment containing 2% OP had a significant (P<0.05) effect on broiler performances. At the end of the trial (d 42), 6 broiler chickens per group were sampled for determination of thigh meat color, TPA, proximate chemical composition and primary oxidation products. Rations containing up to 2% OP and GP had a slight effect on proximate composition of raw broiler thigh meat. The Cie-Lab parameters have changed significantly (P<0.05) through in an increase in lightness, L*, and yellowness, b*, but they did not affect redness, a*. The color difference, ΔE*, between the OP and GP samples vs. C samples, was highlighted. The results of Warner Bratzler mechanical test showed a significant (P<0.05) increase of hardness in OP group while the cohesiveness was significantly (P<0.05) higher in GP group compared with C group. Chewiness was significantly (P<0.05) higher in both experimental treatment while resilience and springiness were similar in all three treatments. Regarding the primary oxidation products, conjugated diene (CD) and conjugated trienes (CT) of broiler thigh meat after 7 days of refrigeration were significantly (P<0.05) lowered in both experimental treatments showing that degradation process was delayed in thigh meat from experimental treatments.

Keywords

• citrus peels
• meat quality
• performances
• tpa