EFFECT OF PROBIOTICS AND THYME ESSENTIAL OIL ON THE TEXTURE OF COOKED CHICKEN BREAST MEAT

Background. Texture is probably the single most critical quality factor associated with the consumers' ultimate satisfaction with a poultry meat product and can be affected by several factors including the type of feed used for chickens fattening. The use of probiotics for meat and carcass quality improvement has been questioned, while the possibility of deposition of essential oils in various muscle tissues can alter the sensory attributes of the chicken's meat. Material and methods. Probiotics and thyme essential oil in the percentage of 0.05% were used as feed supplements for Ross 308 broiler chickens, as the broilers were reared in four separated groups based on the feed supplement as follows: control, probiotics, thyme essential oil and combination of probiotics and thyme essential oil group, while the fattening period was 42 days. TA.XT Plus-Texture analyser apparatus was used for determination of the texture profile and Warner Bratzler shear force for the cooked breast meat. Results. Warner Bratzler shear test results showed that the tested feed additives were not affecting the texture of the chicken breast meat, while probiotic appears to have moderately effect on the hardness, cohesiveness, springiness and chewiness attributes of the cooked breast meat compared with the other groups, this effect of probiotics considered as negligible, as the results showed that all the tested groups meat were very tender according to the tenderness scale. Conclusions. According to the obtained results it can be concluded the combination of probiotics and thyme group resulted in the lowest score for the hardness, cohesiveness, springiness and chewiness attributes, while probiotics group scored the highest compared with the control.