Meat quality traits of four Chinese indigenous chicken breeds and one commercial broiler stock

Meat quality traits of four genotypes of Chinese indigenous chicken [Ninghai chicken (NC), frizzle chicken (FC), Ninghai xiang chicken (XC), and Zhenning loquat chicken (LC)] and one genotype of commercial broiler [Arbor Acres plus broiler (AAB)] were analyzed. The indigenous chickens were raised before the commercial chickens in order to achieve the same final processed days. Indigenous chickens of NC, FC, XC, and LC showed significantly higher inosine-5'-monophosphate (IMP) content, shorter fiber diameter, and lower shear force than those of AAB (P < 0.05). In the indigenous genotypes, NC and FC had significantly shorter fiber diameters and lower shear forces than XC and LC (P < 0.05), and NC and XC had a higher IMP content than FC and LC (P < 0.05). Moreover, the indigenous genotype of LC significantly displayed the highest protein content (P < 0.05) in the five genotypes of birds, and no significant differences of protein content were found between the other genotypes of NC, FC, XC, and AAB (P > 0.05). The indigenous chickens from FC displayed the highest total lipid content in the five bird genotypes (P < 0.05). Significant differences of pH, color values of L* and a*, and drip loss for the five genotypes of birds were also observed. In conclusion, there were significant differences in the meat quality traits of the bird breeds selected in this study, and the indigenous chickens, especially the NC genotype, produced better quality meat as far as the IMP content, fiber diameters, and shear forces were concerned.