Comparison of the chemical composition, textural characteristics, and sensory properties of North and South Korean native chickens and commercial broilers

The objective of this study was to compare the quality characteristics of chicken breast and thigh meat from North Korean native chickens (NKNC), South Korean native chickens (SKNC, woorimotdak), and commercial broilers (CB). NKNC thigh meat had a higher crude protein content than CB. In addition, the breasts of NKNC and CB had higher pH values than that of SKNC, but the cooking loss was higher in NKNC. The surface color of the breast and thigh meat of NKNC was darker and redder than that of SKNC and CB. The total collagen content of the breast and thigh muscles was the highest in NKNC, followed by SKNC and CB. A similar trend occurred with breast meat hardness. The content of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids was higher in both the breast and thigh muscles of NKNC than in those of the other groups, while the concentrations of linoleic and linolenic acids were higher only in thigh meat. Sensory evaluation did not show any differences among the three different strains of chicken except for the meat color. Sensory panelists preferred thigh meat from SKNC and CB to that of NKNC due to the strong dark color of the NKNC. Based on these results, NKNC had harder breasts based on texture, as well as a darker surface color and higher composition of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids than CB. The quality characteristics of SKNC tested in this study were intermediate between NKNC and CB; however, SKNC may have a better chance of acceptance by Korean consumers due to the undesirable color of NKNC.