The effect of a diet containing grasshoppers and access to free-range on carcase and meat physicochemical and sensory characteristics in broilers
2013
Sun, T. | Long, R.J. | Liu, Z.Y.
1. Research was conducted to evaluate the impact of a diet containing grasshoppers on the carcase, physicochemical and sensory characteristics in a free-range, grassland-based broiler production system.2. A total of 80, 28-d-old male broilers were reared on grassland containing a large population of grasshoppers (treatment PB). Control birds were reared intensively on a maize-soybean diet (treatment CB). At 91 d of age, 24 birds from each treatment were slaughtered to evaluate carcase, meat and sensory characteristics.3. Treatment PB produced birds with significantly lower live weights, breast, wing, thigh and drum weights, and higher dressing percentage and breast percentage of carcase, compared with CB. Treatment PB produced breast meat with significantly higher redness values, shear force and protein content, and lower pH values, cooking loss, moisture and fat content compared with CB. Sensory panel results for breast and thigh meats showed no treatment effect on colour and juiciness, but significantly higher scores for chewiness, flavour, aroma and overall appreciation, and lower scores for tenderness from treatment PB compared with CB.4. Rearing chickens on rangeland may provide an alternative way to produce poultry meat which is considered superior by modern consumers.
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