Effect of an animal-friendly raising environment on the quality, storage stability, and metabolomic profiles of chicken thigh meat

Abstract

Despite growing interest from consumers in meat products from animal-friendly raising environments, the influence of environmental conditions on chicken meat quality remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of legally approved animal-friendly raising environments on the physicochemical quality and storage stability of chicken thigh muscle using nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolic analysis. One-day-old Cobb chicks were raised for 35 days under conventional or animal-friendly farms in an indoor system. Chicken thigh meat from conventional farms (CB) and chicken thigh meat from legally approved animal-friendly farms (AFB) were stored for 7 days and the metabolomic profiles and characteristics of meat were analyzed. Two chicken groups were clearly separated by partial least squares-discriminant analysis based on their metabolomic profiles. Glycolysis-related products (glucose and lactic acid) were more abundant in AFB, whereas inosine, hypoxanthine, and free amino acid contents were higher in CB. An animal-friendly raising environment resulted in the differential regulation of metabolic pathways and physicochemical quality of AFB, which presented a lower pH and water holding capacity and higher shear force compared with CB. However, both chicken groups maintained their storage stability in terms of microbial quality, lipid oxidation, volatile basic nitrogen, and fatty acid profiles. These results suggest that an animal-friendly raising environment could lead to differences in meat quality via metabolic changes, which subsequently alter the physicochemical quality of chicken thigh meat.