Comparison of Broiler Meat Quality from Conventional and Animal Welfare Farm in Korean Market: Focusing on Breast and Thigh Meat

As chicken consumption has increased, concerns about conventional farm have grown, which in turn has heightened interest in animal welfare. However, research on the quality characteristic of broiler from animal welfare farm remains limited yet. In this study, we aimed to compare the meat quality characteristic of chicken from conventional and animal welfare farm in Korean market. There was a total of 2 treatment groups: broilers from conventional farm (BCF), broilers from animal welfare farm (BAW), consisting of chicken breast and thigh meat. For the comparison of chicken meat quality, proximate composition (moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash), pH, water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), thawing loss (TL) and color were analyzed, and sensory evaluation was conducted. The pH values of breast and thigh meat of BAW were significantly lower than BCF. The WHC of breast and thigh meat of BAW was significantly higher than BCF. The CL of breast and thigh meat of BAW was lower than BCF but there was no statistical difference. The TL of breast meat of BAW was significantly lower than BCF. For color, no statistical difference was observed in the brightness of breast meat, though redness and yellowness were higher in BCF. The brightness of thigh meat was significantly higher in BAW, with no statistical differences in redness and yellowness. Sensory evaluation showed no statistical differences in both breast and thigh meat between BCF and BAW.