Differences in the Quality Characteristics between Commercial Korean Native Chickens and Broilers

To investigate the differences in the quality characteristics between commercial Korean native chicken (KNC) and broiler(CB), nutritive and quality parameters of the two chicken species were determined. The KNC thigh muscle had a lower content of crude fat and higher crude ash than the CB thigh. In regards to the fatty acid composition, KNC breast muscle had a higher content of arachidonic acid (C20:4) than CB. The level of inosine was higher in the CB thigh muscle than KNC but there was little difference in other nucleotide compounds. The KNC breast had higher amounts of glycine, alanine, and proline than CB, which are closely related to high quality meat flavor. The sensory acceptance was not significantly different between the breast and thigh of KNC and CB. However, KNC had higher cohesiveness, chewiness and gumminess than CB, which are indicative of a unique texture property. Based on these results, commercial KNC may have superior nutritional quality, taste, and unique texture when compared with CB. Thus, the consumer preference for KNC may be partially explained by these distinctive quality characteristics.