• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.1026-1030
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• 2011

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of caponization on the muscle composition, ATP-related compounds, the shear values, the taste panel scores and the muscle fiber areas of Taiwan country chicken cockerels. At 10 wks of age, cockerels were divided into two groups: caponized and untreated. Birds were fed grower and finisher diets ad libitum in an eighteen-week experimental period. Results showed that capons contained significantly greater muscle fat content, less breast and thigh muscle moisture content, shear value and muscle fiber area (p<0.05) than those of intact birds. However, neither treatment groups differed significantly (p>0.05) in breast and thigh muscle protein content. Compared with the intact birds, the capons contained significantly (p<0.05) less muscle ash content in the breasts, but did not differ significantly (p>0.05) in thigh muscle ash content. The breast muscle IMP and ATP+ADP+AMP+IMP contents in the intact birds were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those in the capons. The intact birds had significantly (p<0.05) higher ATP and AMP contents than did the capons as well as significantly (p<0.05) less ADP and inosine (HxR) contents in the thigh and breast muscles. The Hypoxanthine (Hx) content of the thighs in the intact birds was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that in the capons; however, there was an adverse effect on the breast muscle Hx content. The breast muscle K value in the intact birds was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that in the capons. The capons produced significantly (p<0.05) higher taste panel scores than did the intact birds for both flavor and juiciness of thigh muscle as well as for flavor and tenderness of breast muscle.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.763-768
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• 2012

The objective of this study was undertaken to investigate changes in fatty acid profile of breast and thigh muscle of old laying hens as transferred from cage to backyard raising system and to provide basic information on using old laying hens to producers for environmental managements. Overall, percentages of unsaturated fatty acid obtained from breast and thigh muscle with cage and backyard raising system are the most abundant, followed by saturated fatty acid. For breast muscle, there were no differences (P>0.05) between cage rearing system and backyard raising system in saturated fatty acid (SFA) and mono unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA). Poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and PUFA:SFA ratios were significantly higher in backyard raising systems in comparison with cage rearing systems (P<0.05). No differences (P>0.05) were detected between both rearing systems for MUFA, PUFA, and PUFA:SFA ratios with thigh muscles. SFA in thigh muscle was significantly (P<0.05) higher in cage rearing systems compared with backyard raising systems. In conclusion, using breast and thigh muscle meats from old laying hens as functional foods or investigating impact assessment on the improvement of farm management system may serve as a good management practice to encourage producers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1195-1201
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• 2009

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary alpha-lipoic acid (LA) on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality in Arbor Acres broilers. A total of 240 1-d-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allocated to 4 dietary treatments (0, 300 ppm, 600 ppm, and 900 ppm dietary LA supplementation, respectively). Birds were slaughtered at 42 days old. Live body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), average feed intake (AFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), dressing percentage, breast muscle percentage, thigh muscle percentage, abdominal fat percentage, muscle color (L*, a*, b*), pH values at 24 h postmortem, meat shear force value (SFV) and anti-oxidative ability were measured. Results showed that addition of 600 ppm or 900 ppm LA decreased BW (p<0.01), ADG (p<0.01) and AFI (p<0.05) compared with other diets. FCR was not affected by dietary LA content. LA had no marked effect on dressing percentage, breast muscle percentage or thigh muscle percentage. Abdominal fat percentage was lower (p<0.05) in the 900 ppm LA supplementation group than the control group. Dietary 900 ppm LA increased (p<0.05) breast and thigh muscle pH value at 24 h postmortem compared with the control treatment. Dietary LA increased thigh muscle a* value, though no significant difference was found in thigh muscle a* value among the treatments. Dietary LA significantly decreased breast muscle L* value (p<0.05), breast muscle b* value (p<0.01) and thigh muscle b* value (p<0.05). Broilers fed LA had higher breast muscle a* value (p<0.05) and thigh muscle L* value (p<0.05). All test groups had lower (p<0.05) breast muscle SFV than the control group. Dietary 600 ppm or 900 ppm LA both decreased (p<0.01) thigh muscle SFV compared with the control treatment. Dietary 900 ppm LA significantly increased (p<0.05) TAOC, SOD and GSHPx compared with no LA treatment. Broilers fed LA had lower (p<0.01) MDA compared with the control treatment. These results suggested that dietary LA enhanced the anti-oxidative ability and oxidative stability, and contributed to the improvement of meat quality in broilers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1639-1644
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• 2010

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality and lipid metabolism in broilers. A total of 240 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allocated to 4 dietary treatments (0, 300, 600, and 900 mg/kg dietary ALC supplementation, respectively). Compared with the control treatment, addition of ALC resulted in lower (linear effect, p<0.05) ADG and AFI. Abdominal fat percentage decreased (linear effect, p<0.05) as dietary ALC was increased, but there was no effect on dressing percentage, breast muscle percentage or thigh muscle percentage. Breast muscle pH value 24 h post-mortem increased (linear effect, p<0.05), but there were no significant differences among treatments. However, thigh muscle pH value increased (linear effect, p<0.05) as dietary ALC was increased. Breast and thigh muscle $a^*$ values increased (linear effect, p<0.05), and breast and thigh muscle $b^*$ values decreased (linear effect, p<0.05) with increased ALC in the diet. In addition, breast and thigh muscle shear force value decreased (linear effect, p<0.05) as dietary ALC was increased. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lipoprotein lipase decreased (linear effect, p<0.05) and free fatty acid and lipase in serum increased (linear effect, p<0.05) with increased ALC in diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.884-888
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• 2003

Proteolytic enzymes are used for meat tenderization, an important process with regard to consumer preference. The proteolytic enzyme, IVRIN was isolated from the plant Cucumis pubescens W and its effect on physico-chemical properties and lipid profile of thigh and breast muscle of culled, desi and broiler birds was studied. Fifty-gram meat was treated with IVRIN containing 32.5 mg enzyme protein at $60^{\circ}C$ for 20 min. The pH of IVRIN treated meat was decreased significantly (p<0.01) and the effect was more pronounced in breast than thigh muscle. The water holding capacity (WHC) was increased significantly (p<0.01) in broiler as compared to desi and culled bird, and in breast compared to thigh muscle. IVRIN failed to produce any impact on muscle fiber diameter (MFD). The MFD of desi was significantly higher (p<0.01) than broiler and culled birds. The total lipid concentration in thigh and breast muscle of desi was lower (p<0.01) than broiler and culled birds, latter being similar in this respect. The cholesterol content was lower (p<0.01) in breast than thigh muscle, in broiler than desi and culled and in IVRIN treated than untreated meat samples. The phospholipid concentration was unaffected by IVRIN. Broiler and culled birds exhibited more phospholipid content than desi birds.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.55-59
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• 1973

This experiment was carried out to improve on the simple and conventional processing method by studying the characteristics of poultry meat. For the experiment, 20 hens culled and 20 broilers were slaughtered and divided into the following five groups; whole carcass, skinned carcass, debonned carcass, thigh muscle and breast muscle. Each group was ground by the super grinding machine. The results tobtained are summarized as follows; (1) The percentage of the ready-to-cook of cull hens and broilers was $64.32{\pm}2.11,\;67.96{\pm}1.16$, and of the water uptake, $105.43{\pm}1.9,\;104.13{\pm}0.2$, respectively. (2) In the chemical composition, broiler meat showed high moisture content and a little low fat content, as compared with cull hen meat. By groups, whole carcass ground meat contained lower maisture content, and higher fat and ash content than thigh muscle and breast muscle. (3) Thigh muscle and breast muscle group was higher than the other and whole carcass group was lower for the relative WHC and water retention.(4) The higher temperature the higher cooking loss percentage in all groups, and whole carcass group was the highest cooking loss percentage among the all groups.(5) The significant difference was little observed for the relative WHC, water retention and cooking loss percentage by groups between cull hen and Broiler.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.305-318
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• 2023

This study investigated the protein digestibility of chicken breast and thigh in an in vitro digestion model to determine the better protein sources for the elderly in terms of bioavailability. For this purpose, the biochemical traits of raw muscles and the structural properties of myofibrillar proteins were monitored. The thigh had higher pH, 10% trichloroacetic acid-soluble α-amino groups, and protein carbonyl content than the breast (p<0.05). In the proximate composition, the thigh had higher crude fat and lower crude protein content than the breast (p<0.05). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of myofibrillar proteins showed noticeable differences in the band intensities of tropomyosin α-chain and myosin light chain-3 between the thigh and breast. The intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence intensity of myosin was lower in the thigh than in the breast (p<0.05). Moreover, circular dichroism spectroscopy of myosin revealed that the thigh had higher α-helical and lower β-sheet structures than the breast (p<0.05). The cooked muscles were then chopped and digested in the elderly digestion model. The thigh had more α-amino groups than the breast after both gastric and gastrointestinal digestion (p<0.05). SDS-PAGE analysis of the gastric digesta showed that more bands remained in the digesta of the breast than that of the thigh. The content of proteins less than 3 kDa in the gastrointestinal digesta was also higher in the thigh than in the breast (p<0.05). These results reveal that chicken thigh with higher in vitro protein digestibility is a more appropriate protein source for the elderly than chicken breast.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.575-580
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• 2003

We determined the effect of caponization on the carcass and giblet characteristics, and skin and muscle color in Taiwan country chicken cockerels. Caponized birds were surgically altered at 10 weeks old and were fed growing and finishing diets ad libitum during an eighteen-week experimental period. The results showed that the percentage of dressing, heart, feet, thigh, head and neck were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the intact birds, while the capons had a higher (p<0.05) percentage of abdominal fat, intestine, back, wing and breast. Eviscerated weight, breast width, gizzard, liver and spleen ratios were not affected by the treatments. The breast skin color values for lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*) values in the capons were significantly (p<0.05) higher than in the intact birds, but the thigh and back skin were not significantly（p>0.05）different. Compared with the intact birds, the capons had a significantly (p<0.05) less redness (a*) values in the back skin, but were not significantly (p>0.05) different in the breast and thigh skin. The L* value of the thigh muscle was significantly (p<0.05) greater in the capons than in the intact birds, but were not significantly (p>0.05) different in breast and back muscles. The b* values in the breast, back and thigh muscles of the capons were significantly (p<0.05) greater whereas the intact birds had a higher (p<0.05) a* values in the breast, back, and thigh muscles. Moreover, our findings also indicate that the castration resulted in a significant alteration in dressing percentage, carcass region and organ percentage.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2010

To investigate the differences in the quality characteristics between commercial Korean native chicken (KNC) and broiler (CB), nutritive and quality parameters of the two chicken species were determined. The KNC thigh muscle had a lower content of crude fat and higher crude ash than the CB thigh. In regards to the fatty acid composition, KNC breast muscle had a higher content of arachidonic acid (C20:4) than CB. The level of inosine was higher in the CB thigh muscle than KNC but there was little difference in other nucleotide compounds. The KNC breast had higher amounts of glycine, alanine, and proline than CB, which are closely related to high quality meat flavor. The sensory acceptance was not significantly different between the breast and thigh of KNC and CB. However, KNC had higher cohesiveness, chewiness and gumminess than CB, which are indicative of a unique texture property. Based on these results, commercial KNC may have superior nutritional quality, taste, and unique texture when compared with CB. Thus, the consumer preference for KNC may be partially explained by these distinctive quality characteristics.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.401-405
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• 2002

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of caponization on the growth performance, breast and thigh muscles physical properties and fiber diameter of the Pectoralis major and Gastrocnemius pars externa in Taiwan country chicken cockerels. Caponized birds were surgically altered at 10 weeks of age. Birds were fed grower and finisher diets ad libitum during an eighteen-week experimental period. The results indicated that the live weight and feed intake in the capons were significantly (p<0.05) higher and the shank length was significantly (p<0.05) longer than in intact birds. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in feed conversion and mortality between two treatments at 28 weeks of age. Compared with intact birds, the capons had greater (p<0.05) tenderness in the breast and thigh muscles. Cohesion of the breast muscle in the capons was significantly (p<0.05) better than in the intact birds, but the thigh muscles were not significantly (p>0.05) affected. No treatment differences (p>0.05) were associated with cooking loss, muscle chewiness, and elasticity. The capons had a significantly (p<0.05) smaller fiber diameter in the Pectoralis major, but were not significantly (p>0.05) different in the fiber diameter of the Gastrocnemius pars externa. It is concluded that castration did not depress growth compared with the intact birds, but did improve muscle tenderness. This difference was most pronounced in the thigh muscles.