Sensory analysis of meat from broiler chickens fed diets containing hulless oats (Avena nuda)

New cultivars of hulless or naked oats have metabolizable energy comparable to corn but with higher protein content and quality than corn (Burrows et al. 1993). Although there is documented evidence on poultry performance that hulless oats are a suitable feedstuff for poultry, there is little documentation on the effect of hulless oats as a poultry feedstuff on the sensory qualities of the meat. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of increasing dietary levels of hulless oats on the sensory quality of the broiler chicken meat and to ascertain if rancidity had developed during 3 mo of cold storage. Hulless oat dietary levels were assigned to a factorial arrangement of two sexes of broilers, three broiler starter diets (S0, S250, S500 g kg-1) and four grower diets (GO, G250, G500 and G750 g kg-1). Hulless oats of each diet replaced portions of the corn and soybeans of the control diet (S0/G0). Tenderness, juiciness, flavour intensity and muscle fibre integrity of the light meat; and tenderness, rubberiness, stringiness, juiciness and flavour intensity of the dark meat were evaluated by six selected assessors. Cooking data indicated a significant sex effect for oven-ready weight and grower oats level effect for weight loss during cooking. There were significant grower effects for tenderness and juiciness (P less than or equal to 0.05) of light meat. In the dark meat there was a significant sex effect (P less than or equal to 0.05) for stringiness; starter effect (P less than or equal to 0.05) for flavour; and grower effect for tenderness and juiciness (P less than or equal to 0.05). From a sensory perspective it appears that replacement of corn and soybeans in broiler grower diets by 500 g kg-1 of hulless oats decreases some sensory quality parameters. This was not found at 250 g kg-1 hulless oats.