Influence of the gender on carcass and meat quality parameters of broiler

Poultry meat stored in modified atmosphere packages sometimes shows a high variation of the meat colour. Since the colour of the meat varies physiologically, it is necessary to colour differences in the packages. In the present study the influence of gender on the meat quality of M. pectoralis superficialis (MPS) was investigated. Therefore cockerels and hens of the genetic line Ross 308 were considered. The cockerels had significantly higher carcass, breast muscle and leg weights, whereas the breast and thigh yields were similar between the genders. The MPS of the hens had significantly higher drip loss and electrical conductivity values, and lower pH values. Looking at the brightness (L*) and redness (a*) values over 3 days after slaughter, the L* of the meat increase and a* remained nearly unchanged,but this development was independent of the gender of the broilers. The results show that sexing of broiler chicks shortly after hatch might be useful, to reduce the variation of the carcass and meat quality parameters during slaughter and dissection but especially during packaging of the meat.