Influence of Probiotics and Thyme Essential Oil on the Sensory Properties and Cooking Loss of Broiler Chicken Meat

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effect of probiotics and thyme essential oil (TEO) as feed additives on the sensory attributes, cooking loss and the texture of broiler chicken meat. Day-old broilers Ross 308 (n=400 chicks) were randomly divided into four groups based on the feed supplement as follows: C-control, E1-probiotics 0.05%, E2-TEO 0.05% and E4-combined, probiotics 5% with TEO 5%, respectively. The fattening period was 42 days. Warner Bratzler shear force, cooking loss and the following sensory attributes (colour, odour, taste, texture, meat decomposing and overall acceptability) were tested. The obtained results of the Warner Bratzler shear force show that there was significant different (p<0.05) between control and TEO group and for the cooking loss there was no significant difference between groups. The descriptive sensory analysis results show that the probiotics group results were somewhat similar to that obtained by control while the TEO group and the combined group results were similar. Regarding the sensory analysis we can state that the combination of the probiotics with TEO have a positive effect on the chicken breast meat sensory characteristics.

Keywords

• cooking loss
• probiotics
• ross 308
• sensory attributes
• texture
• thyme essential oil