Amino Acid Levels in Muscle Tissue of Six Wild Feathered Species

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine and compare the levels of amino acids (AAs) in breast and thigh muscles of six species of feathered game of the same age. The experiment involved the following species: wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), chukar partridge (Alectoris chucar), Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica), common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and grey partridge (Perdix perdix). The highest content of AAs was found in the chukar partridge (breast: 815.7 ± 47.71 g/kg; thigh: 771.4 ± 107.0 g/kg, on a dry matter basis), the lowest levels of AAs were found in Japanese quail (breast: 734.2 ± 45.07 g/kg) and grey partridge (thigh: 614.9 ± 49.66 g/kg). In all examined species, the level of histidine in breast muscles differed (P ≤ 0.01) from that in thigh muscles. In all investigated species, the levels of essential AAs in breast muscles were higher (P ≤ 0.01) than those in thigh muscles, whereas the levels of non-essential AAs in breast muscles were lower (P ≤ 0.01) than those in thigh muscles. Breast muscles are therefore more valuable than thigh muscles because of the content of essential AAs.

Keywords

• essential and non-essential amino acids
• breast and thigh muscles
• feathered game