Identification of meat quality indicators to differentiate thigh (dark) and breast (white) meat in broiler chicken

Consumer’s purchasing behaviours of broiler meat is changing over the years. The growing demand for particular cuts of broiler meat is being met by modern meat retailing. The study was carried out to establish the quality indicators for differentiating dark (thigh) and white (breast) meat of chicken so that consumers can make informed decisions. Different broiler birds sourced from the local retail market were used for the study. Two muscle groups breast (Pectoralis major) and thigh (Biceps femoris) was sampled for measurement of different parameters ‘L’ (lightness), ‘a’ (redness) and ‘b’ (yellowness) values. Colourimeter was placed on the muscle cross-section surfaces and colour values were obtained. The breast meat colour was more towards white and the thigh meat colour tends to be darker. Redness was significantly (P<0.05) higher in thigh meat. The overall colour difference (E) for thigh and breast muscles were more than 4 indicating that visual colour difference might be useful in differentiating thigh and breast muscles. The average fat percent was significantly (P<0.05) higher in thigh meat as compared to breast meat. Similarly, the cholesterol content (mg %) was also significantly (P<0.05) higher in thigh meat. The study concluded that dark and white meats of broilers could be differentiated by measuring colour, fat and cholesterol. Therefore, colour, fat and cholesterol can be used as quality indicators and to help consumers to make an informed choice while purchasing broiler meat.