Carcass and Meat Quality Traits of Medium-Growing Broiler Chickens Fed Soybean or Pea Bean and Raised under Semi-Intensive Conditions

Abstract

A study was carried out to evaluate the effect of the total replacement of flaked soybean (Glycine max L., SOY) with raw pea (Pisum sativum L., PEA) on the carcass and meat quality traits of two medium-growing broiler strains (Kabir Rosso Plus, KB; New Red, NR). Birds were housed in 20 pens (five replications/groups, six birds each). At 83 days of age, 40 birds (2/replication) were slaughtered and the pectoral muscle (PM) was removed for analyses. Diet did not affect slaughter weight, carcass traits and meat quality. A pea diet determined a significant increase of MUFA and a decrease of PUFA, n-3 and n-6 PUFA; hence, the pea-fed group had a lower PUFA/SFA and a higher n-6/n-3 ratios compared to the soy-fed. NR chickens were heavier, with higher carcass and cut weights (p p p < 0.05) pH. Fatty acids were slightly affected by genotype. Replacing soybean with pea adversely affects meat fatty acid composition in terms of nutritional profile.

Keywords

• broiler chickens
• diet
• protein sources
• genotype
• meat quality
• fatty acids