• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1649-1656
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• 2015

Gene expression profiling has offered new insights into postmortem molecular changes associated with meat quality. To acquire reliable transcript quantification, high quality RNA is required. The objective of this study was to analyze integrity of RNA isolated from chicken skeletal muscle (pectoralis major) and its capability of serving as the template in quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) as a function of postmortem intervals representing the end-points of evisceration, carcass chilling and aging stages in chicken abattoirs. Chicken breast muscle was dissected from the carcasses (n = 6) immediately after evisceration, and one-third of each sample was instantly snap-frozen and labeled as 20 min postmortem. The remaining muscle was stored on ice until the next rounds of sample collection (1.5 h and 6 h postmortem). The delayed postmortem duration did not significantly affect $A_{260}/A_{280}$ and $A_{260}/A_{230}$ ($p{\geq}0.05$), suggesting no altered purity of total RNA. Apart from a slight decrease in the 28s:18s ribosomal RNA ratio in 1.5 h samples (p<0.05), the value was not statistically different between 20 min and 6 h samples ($p{\geq}0.05$), indicating intact total RNA up to 6 h. Abundance of reference genes encoding beta-actin (ACTB), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT), peptidylprolylisomerase A (PPIA) and TATA box-binding protein (TBP) as well as meat-quality associated genes (insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isozyme 4 (PDK4), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARD) were investigated using qPCR. Transcript abundances of ACTB, GAPDH, HPRT, and PPIA were significantly different among all postmortem time points (p<0.05). Transcript levels of PDK4 and PPARD were significantly reduced in the 6 h samples (p<0.05). The findings suggest an adverse effect of a prolonged postmortem duration on reliability of transcript quantification in chicken skeletal muscle. For the best RNA quality, chicken skeletal muscle should be immediately collected after evisceration or within 20 min postmortem, and rapidly preserved by deep freezing.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.946-951
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• 2010

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of blood meal (BM) as a source of histidine, and magnesium oxide (MgO) as a catalyst of carnosine synthetase, on carnosine (L-Car) content in the chicken breast muscle (CBM), laying performance, and egg quality of spent old hens. Four hundred eighty laying hens (Hy-Line$^{(R)}$ Brown), 95wk old, were allotted randomly into five replicates of six dietary treatments: T1; 100% basal diet, T2; 100% basal diet+MgO, T3; 97.5% basal diet+2.5% BM, T4; 97.5% basal diet+2.5% BM+MgO, T5; 95% basal diet+5% BM, T6; 95% basal diet+5% BM+MgO. Magnesium oxide was added at 0.3% of diets. The layers were fed experimental diets for 5wk. There were no significant differences in the weekly L-Car content in CBM among all treatments during the total experimental period, but some of the contrast comparisions showed higher L-Car in CBM of T6. The L-Car contents linearly decreased (p<0.01 or p<0.05) as the layers got older except in T4 (p>0.05). There were significant differences in egg weight (p<0.01) and soft and broken egg ratio (p<0.05). The control (T1) was highest in egg weight and T6 was lowest in soft and broken egg ratio. Among the parameters of egg quality, there were significant differences in eggshell strength (p<0.01) and egg yolk color (p<0.05). Magnesium oxide supplementation increased the eggshell strength and BM tended to decrease egg yolk color. Eggshell color, eggshell thickness, and Haugh unit were not influenced by BM and MgO. In conclusion, BM and MgO did not significantly influence the L-Car in CBM of spent layers. The L-Car content rapidly decreased as the layers became senescent. Eggshell strength was increased by MgO supplementation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.116-121
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• 2010

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) promote the development of brain and vision of the fetus, relieve inflammation, inhibit oral dysplasia of rumor cell, decrease the incidence of cardiovascular disease and regulate arrhythmia. ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase is the rate-limited enzyme in the desaturation process. This study reports the cloning, characterization and tissue expression of a ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase gene in the chicken. PCR primers were designed based on the predicted sequence of chicken ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase (accession number: XM421053) and used to isolate a cDNA fragment of 1,323 bp from chicken liver. Based on the 1,323 bp fragment an EST (BI390105) was obtained by BLAST. The EST and 5'nd of the 1,323 bp fragment were partially overlapped. Gene specific primers derived from the EST were used for amplification of the 5'nd. Another gene-specific primer derived from the 1,323 bp fragment was used for amplification of the 3'nd by 3'ACE. Then the three overlapping cDNA sequences obtained were assembled with DNAMAN software and a full-length ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase of 2,153 bp was obtained. The full-length cDNA contained an ORF of 1,335 bp with a 5'ntranslated region of 147 nucleotides followed by an ATG initiation codon. Stop codon TGA was at position 1,481-1,483 bp. The deduced amino acids shared an homology above 77% with bovine, mice, orangutan, rat and human. The protein sequence had three histidine-rich regions HDFGH (HisI region), HFQHH (HisII region) and HH (HisIII region), a cytochrome $b_{5}$-like domain containing a heme-binding motif and two transmembrane domains. Sequence analysis of the chicken genomic DNA revealed that the coding sequence of chicken ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase included 12 exons and 11 introns. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that the ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase expression levels were in turn liver, spleen, pancreas, lung, breast muscle, heart, and abdominal fat. The expression of ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase in liver was significantly higher than that in breast muscle (p<0.01). The expression of ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase in lung was significantly higher than that in abdominal fat (p<0.01). This is the first clone of chicken ${\Delta}-6$ desaturase.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.701-710
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• 2019

Objective: This study investigated the effect of different acute heat stress (HS) levels on chicken meat quality and ultra-structure. Methods: Chickens were randomly divided into 7 groups to receive different HS treatments: i) $36^{\circ}C$ for 1 h, ii) $36^{\circ}C$ for 2 h, iii) $38^{\circ}C$ for 1 h, iv) $38^{\circ}C$ for 2 h, v) $40^{\circ}C$ for 1 h, vi) $40^{\circ}C$ for 2 h, and vii) un-stressed control group ($25^{\circ}C$). Blood cortisol level, breasts initial temperature, color, pH, water holding capacity (WHC), protein solubility and ultra-structure were analyzed. Results: HS temperatures had significant effects on breast meat temperature, lightness ($L^*$), redness ($a^*$), cooking loss and protein solubility (p<0.05). The HS at $36^{\circ}C$ increased $L^*{_{24h}}$ value (p<0.01) and increased the cooking loss (p<0.05), but decreased $a^*{_{24h}}$ value (p<0.05). However, as the temperature increased to $38^{\circ}C$ and $40^{\circ}C$, all the values of $L^*{_{24h}}$, cooking loss and protein denaturation level decreased, and the differences disappeared compared to control group (p>0.05). Only the ultimate $pH_{24h}$ at $40^{\circ}C$ decreased compared to the control group (p<0.01). The pH in $36^{\circ}C$ group declined greater than other heat-stressed group in the first hour postmortem, which contributed breast muscle protein degeneration combining with high body temperature, and these variations reflected on poor meat quality parameters. The muscle fiber integrity level in group $40^{\circ}C$ was much better than those in $36^{\circ}C$ with the denatured position mainly focused on the interval of muscle fibers which probably contributes WHC and light reflection. Conclusion: HS at higher temperature (above $38^{\circ}C$) before slaughter did not always lead to more pale and lower WHC breast meat. Breast meat quality parameters had a regression trend as HS temperature raised from $36^{\circ}C$. The interval of muscle fibers at 24 h postmortem and greater pH decline rate with high body temperature in early postmortem period could be a reasonable explanation for the variation of meat quality parameters.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

We investigated the effects of stunning methods and gas treatments during slaughter on the quality characteristics of chicken breast and small intestine. Broilers (Ross 308) were stunned and slaughtered using halal, CO₂, or N₂ gas stunning methods (for 10 birds). After slaughter, the pH, proximate composition, color, water-holding capacity, cooking loss, and shear force of chicken breast muscle and small intestine were determined. Compared with the halal treatment, CO₂ treatment resulted in higher pH and lower cooking loss (P<0.05), and the pH, color, and shear force of chicken breast muscle with N₂ treatment were similar to those of the halal treatment (P>0.05). Compared with the halal treatment, the gas treatments resulted in lower pH and lightness and higher redness, yellowness, thickness, and shear force of the small intestine (P<0.05). However, compared with the CO₂ treatment, the N₂ treatment resulted in lower pH, redness, and yellowness, and higher lightness, thickness, and shear force. Overall, compared with the halal method, our results suggest that the use of N₂ gas suppresses the discoloration and deterioration of the texture of chicken meat and small intestine caused by CO₂ gas treatment in the gas stunning method.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2004

Functional properties of farm-grown pheasant meat with different sex, age and cutting portion were investigated, and the textural and sensory characteristics of processed products were also evaluated. Chemical composition of pheasant meat was characterized to be high in protein and low in fat, and breast muscle showed more protein and less moisture than thigh muscle. Moisture/protein ratio of the pheasant meat was relatively low in a range of 2.82∼3.40, indicating the pheasant meat would be a good source of processed meat, and it had high water holding capacity and myofibrillar protein extractability with some variations depending on age and portion cut(p<0.05). Thigh muscle showed higher value of L＊ and b＊ and lower value of a＊ than breast muscle. However, no difference was observed in color of meat with different age and sex. The meat from the 6 months and the breast cut had lower shear force than those of respective 17 months and the thigh regardless of sex. The pressed ham and sausage manufactured with the pheasant meat had better score than the commercial products manufactured with pork or chicken in sensory and textural parameters.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of high and low chilling temperature on the water-holding capacity (WHC) and tenderness of hot-boned breast meat of broiler chickens. Breast meat was obtained from 32 broiler chickens within 15 min post-mortem (PM), and then divided into two groups. One group was chilled at $-1^{\circ}C$ and the other group was stored at $30^{\circ}C$ for 3 hr, and then all the samples were chilled at $2^{\circ}C$ until 24 hr PM. During the storage, their physicochemical characteristics were tested at 15 min, 3 hr and 24 hr PM. These included pH, R-values, cooking losses, sarcomere length, MFI, and shear force of the breast meat, none of which was different (p>0.05) between the two temperature treatments at $-1^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$. However, sarcomere length was shortened more at $-1^{\circ}C$ than at $30^{\circ}C$, MFI was larger at $30^{\circ}C$ than at $-1^{\circ}C$, drip loss was greater at $30^{\circ}C$ than at $-1^{\circ}C$, and WHC was lower at $30^{\circ}C$ than at $-1^{\circ}C$(p<0.05). In brief, in terms of yield and tenderness, broiler breast meat stored at $-1^{\circ}C$ was superior to that stored at $30^{\circ}C$.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.356-363
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of hot boning and curing condition on the quality characteristics of ground chicken breast. Treatments were cured by four conditions follows; control (general curing method), T1 (after hot-boning and then immediately cured), T2 (after hot-boning and immediately cured, then frozen), and T3 (after hot-boning, immediately frozen, refrigerated and then cured). The pH of chicken breast in the state of pre-rigor was 6.22. The pH of cold storage or freezing chicken breast meat respectively were 5.70 or 5.61. The pH of T1 and T2 treatments were significantly higher than those of control and T3 treatment (p<0.05). After stored for 1 wk, the pH value of T1 treatment had a higher value than those of other treatments. T1 treatment had the highest water holding capacity and the lowest cooking loss among all treatments, regardless of the cooking methods. The reduction in diameter for T1 and T2 treatments was lower than those of control and T3 treatment (p<0.05). T1 treatment had the lowest fat loss and moisture loss among all treatments, and the emulsifying capacity of T1 treatment was the highest. The protein solubility of T1 treatment was significantly lower than that of T3 treatment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1760-1764
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• 2002

In order to elucidate the physiological function of circulating IGF-I on muscle protein synthesis in the chicken under malnutritional conditions, we administrated recombinant chicken IGF-I using a osmotic mini pump to fasted young chickens and measured the rate of muscle protein synthesis and plasma metabolite. The pumps delivered IGF-I at the rate of $22{\mu}g/d\{300{\mu}g{\cdot}(kg\;body\;weight{\cdot}d)^{-1}\}$. Fractional rate of protein synthesis in the muscle was measured using a large dose injection of L-[$2,6-^3H$]phenylalanine. Constant infusion of chicken IGF-I did not affect plasma glucose level. Significant interaction between dietary treatment and IGF-I infusion was observed in plasma NEFA and total cholesterol concentrations. When chicks were fasted, IGF-I infusion decreased plasma NEFA and total cholesterol concentrations. On the other hand, IGF-I administration did not affect plasma levels of both metabolites. Fasting reduced plasma triglyceride concentration significantly. IGF-I infusion also decreased the level of plasma triglyceride. Plasma IGF-I concentration of young chickens was halved by fasting for 1 d. IGF-I infusion using an osmotic minipump for 1 d increased plasma IGF-I concentration in fasted chicks to the level of fed chicks. Fasting decreased body weight and the loss of body weight was significantly ameliorated by IGF-I infusion. There was a significant interaction between dietary treatment and IGF-I infusion in the fractional rate of breast muscle protein synthesis. There was no effect of IGF-I infusion on muscle protein synthesis in fed chicks. Muscle protein synthesis reduced by fasting was ameliorated by IGF-I infusion, but did not reach to the level of fed control. Muscle weight of fasted chicks infused with IGF-I was similar to fasted birds without IGF-I infusion, which suggests that muscle protein degradation would be increased by IGF-I infusion as well as protein synthesis in fasted chicks.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.1220-1230
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of 20s university student bodybuilders' protein intake differences with resistant exercise(weight training) by 12 weeks on solt lean mass and body composltion. Natural protein(Chicken breast meat) intake group and Whey protein isolates(WPI) intake group are the experimental groups. Conventional meal intake group is the control group. This study proposes a efficient protein diet for weight training. The results were as follows. In the experimental group(natural protein intake), muscle mass and lean body mass was significantly increased, but body fat percentage was significantly decreased. In the experimental group(WPI intake), muscle mass and lean body mass was significantly increased, but body fat percentage was significantly decreased. In the control group(conventional meal intake), muscle mass and lean body mass was insignificantly increased, but body fat percentage was insignificantly decreased. In addition, there was not a significant difference among intake groups, and also not a differentiated effect between natural protein and WPI intake. In conclusion, natural protein and WPI made muscle mass and lean body mass rise, body fat percentage reduced effectively. Only WPI intake(without natural protein intake) was the efficient mean to increase muscle mass and lean body mass, and to decrease body fat percentage.