Influence of Age and Breed on the Muscle Nutrient Content of Slow- and Fast-Growing Birds under Similar Management

  

    
Age
    
Breast muscle
  
  

    
RJ (mg/g)
    
VC (mg/g)
    
CB (mg/g)
  
  

    
Day 1
    
1.75±0.17 a, y
    
1.31±0.12 b, z
    
0.43±0.09 c, x
  
  

    
Day 10
    
1.83±0.12 a, y
    
1.52±0.15 b, z
    
0.55±0.04 c, x
  
  

    
Day 20
    
2.27±0.26 b, y
    
2.48±0.21 a, y
    
0.72±0.16 c, x
  
  

    
Day 56
    
2.94±0.25 b, x
    
3.58±0.10 a, x
    
1.07±0.14 c, x
  
  

    
Day 120
    
5.21±0.32 a, w
    
4.52±0.21 a, w
    
2.54±0.43 b, w
  
  

    
 
    
Thigh muscle
  
  

    
Day 1
    
2.00±0.22 a, z
    
0.63±0.11 b, z
    
0.39±0.08 b, z
  
  

    
Day 10
    
4.01±0.15 a, y
    
1.89±0.24 b, y
    
0.51±0.17 c, z
  
  

    
Day 20
    
4.74±0.19    a, y
    
3.06±0.25 b, x
    
1.64±0.24    c, y
  
  

    
Day 56
    
5.57±0.17 a, x
    
5.26±0.15 a, w
    
3.18±0.10 b, x
  
  

    
Day 120
    
9.96±0.48    a, w
    
9.71±0.16 a, v
    
5.77±0.36 b, w
  
  

    
ª, b, c Mean values within the same row and w, x, y, z mean values within    the same column with different superscripts different significantly    (p<0.05).

      RJ:    Red Jungle Fowl; VC: Village Chicken; CB: Commercial Broiler; SE: Standard Errors 
  

Table 3: Total collagen content in breast and thigh muscles (mg/g) of RJ, VC, and CB at different ages (mean±SE; n=7).

Comparison between the Total Collagen in the Breast and Thigh Muscles of RJ, VC, and CB at Different Ages

The comparison of total collagen content in the breast and thigh muscles of RJ, VC, and CB at different ages is shown in Table 3. The results showed that the total collagen content was lower (p≤0.05) in the breast muscle of RJ at all ages evaluated, except on day 1 post-hatch. Similarly, for VC, the total collagen content was also lower in the breast muscle, except on day 1 post-hatch, where it was significantly higher than in the thigh muscle. The collagen content in the breast muscle lowered (p≤0.05) on days 56 and 120 post-hatch. In contrast, the collagen content of CB's breast muscle was numerically higher than that of the thigh muscle at younger ages, but it decreased significantly after day 20 post-hatch.

Discussion

Proximate Analysis

In general, muscle is 75% water in various forms, such as immobilized, bound, and free water [111]. In this study, breeds had no effect on the moisture content of the breast muscle except at day 20 post-hatch, and in all breeds examined, the moisture content decreased as the age increased. The dry matter contents were inversely related to the moisture contents in the breast muscle. Also, breeds do not affect the dry matter content of the breast muscle. This agreed with the studies of [7] that showed an increase in age led to an increase in dry matter content. Thus, this may also explain why there was no difference in the moisture and dry matter content in the breast muscle between the slow-growing birds and the fast-growing birds. At all ages evaluated, the moisture contents in RJ and VC thigh muscles were lower, while the dry matters were higher than in the CB. The results were in agreement with Wattanachant et al. (2004). In general, the thigh muscle moisture content was lower in slow-growing birds than in fast-growing ones, and conversely, the dry matter in the thigh muscles was higher in slow-growing birds [17]. This difference in moisture content and slight variation in the ash content in the breast muscles of RJ, VC, and CB were suggested to have been due to different feeding behaviours [18], and according to [19], the chemical composition of chicken meat was influenced by species, sex, age, part of the meat, and carcass processing. The moisture content was significantly higher (p≤0.05) in the breast than in the thigh muscle. This may be explained using the "space" effect, also known as the Steric or Spatial Effect: here, the water-holding capacity of a muscle is related to the total volume of spaces between muscle cells and cellular compartments that can be filled with water. The rule of thumb is that longer sarcomeres, usually found in less contracted muscles like the breast muscle [20], have more "open" space available to trap or hold more water. Our results contradict the findings of [21], probably because of differences in the strains of birds and moisture content determination methods used. As for the CB, the moisture content in the breast muscle was significantly lower than in the thigh muscle.

The crude protein composition of RJ and VC breast muscles was higher (p≤0.05) than that of CB. This agreed with the findings of [17] and, more recently, Dalle Zotte et al. (2020). The results of this study revealed that there was only a minor difference in the crude protein composition of the thigh muscle among the breeds, with the slow-growing birds having a higher crude protein composition than the fast-growing birds. This result also agreed with the reports of Wattanachant et al. (2004), [17], and [21] that the crude protein in the thigh muscles of slow-growing birds was higher than that of fast-growing birds. The difference in the amount of crude protein in breast and thigh muscles among the breeds may also be related to the morphology of the avian small intestine, which is relatively longer and heavier in slow-growing birds than in fast-growing ones [22], hence, the difference in the number of nutrients absorbed. Therefore, concentrated selection for increased body weight in CB may have led to an increase in fat deposition and, consequently, a decrease in crude protein content [23]. Another reason is related to the activity of the birds, where high activity in RJ and VC birds might have led to a decrease in fat and an increase in protein. Within the breeds and for all breeds studied, the crude protein compositions at an early age were higher than those at an older age in the breast muscle. This is consistent with [24], finding that the tissue composition of poultry muscle varies with age as growth rates of tissue components differ across species [25]. This was also expected, as nutrition is an external factor with a major influence on the chemical composition of broiler meat [26]. The protein content in the starter diet (22.9%) given at days 1 to 20 post-hatch was higher than in the finisher diet (18.0%) given at days 56 to 120 post-hatch, thus the content of crude protein in the diet may reflect the composition of crude protein in the meat [27].

In young birds, the composition of crude protein in the breast was higher than that in thigh muscles, while in older birds, the composition of crude protein was significantly higher in the thigh muscle. This pattern is similar in all breeds evaluated in this study. However, this result contrasted with that of Wattanachant et al. (2004), who showed that crude protein in the breast muscle was higher than in the thigh muscle. This could be attributed to a difference in the breeds of chickens researched.

Collagen Analysis

This study found that the collagen composition of slow-growing birds was higher than that of fast-growing birds of all ages studied. This is in agreement with most of the previous studies [28], which stated that breed was among the important factors in collagen composition determination. Wattanachant et al. (2004) reported that the composition of total collagen in Thai indigenous chicken was higher than in the commercial broiler, and [29] also reported that native Aseel chicken has a higher collagen composition in the breast muscles as compared to the commercial broiler. However, there was a scarcity of reports on the collagen composition in the RJ. Within the breed, the results revealed that the composition of collagen increased with age, although without a significant difference (p≥0.05) at an early age. The increase in collagen in the breast muscle is in agreement with [10] and [28]. Higher slow-twitch muscle fibers, or Type-1 muscle fibers, with smaller fiber diameters in RJ and VC than in CB, may be to blame. In adult chickens, the muscle develops with a larger myofibril size, and the perimysium has to deposit many tough collagen fibers with various striations. Thus, the wider perimysium in the muscle could deposit more collagen fibers and increase total collagen.

The composition of collagen in the thigh muscle showed a similar pattern as the breast muscle, where it was highest in the RJ, followed by the VC, and least in the CB, although not significantly different at days 56 and 120 post-hatch when comparing between the RJ and the VC. The slower-growing birds have the highest collagen content compared to the faster-growing ones, and this was corroborated by [29] in a study that compared native Aseel chickens with commercial broilers. Similarly, [4] also reported that the total collagen content in the bicep femoris of the Thai indigenous chicken was higher than that found in broilers. The composition of total collagen in the breast and thigh muscles of the breeds showed a similar pattern. The composition of collagen was consistently higher in the thigh than in the breast muscle, although it showed variable composition at an early age (days 1 to 10 post-hatch). The smaller diameter of thigh muscle fibers compared to breast muscles, as well as the higher composition of type-1 fibers in the thigh compared to the breast muscles, could explain why the thigh muscle collagen composition was higher.

Conclusion

The age and breed of birds play an important role in the nutrient composition of the RJ, VC, and CB muscles. Slow-growing birds are richer in crude protein content at younger ages, while their collagen content is higher than that of fast-growing birds, and it increases with age.

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