Cholesterol content and intramuscular collagen properties of pectoralis superficialis muscle of quail from different genetic groups

Abstract

To study growth performance and meat quality traits (cholesterol content and intramuscular collagen properties) of quail, 3 trials were carried out. Trial 1 used males of generation 19 of the egg type Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) selected previously (until generation 17) for low (n = 8) or high (n = 7) yolk cholesterol content as well as an unselected control (n = 11). Trial 2 used males of meat Pharaoh quail selected earlier (generations 1 to 6 and 9 to 11) on the basis of BW decrease after periodic deprivation of food (high decrease of weight, n = 10; low decrease of weight, n = 8) and unselected control (n = 10). Trial 3 compared males of English White quail, Manchurian Golden quail, and British Range quail. The birds were raised to 35 d of age. Quail were fed ad libitum commercial diets according to age and had free access to water. At slaughter, all birds were individually weighed (after a fasting period of 12 h), stunned, and decapitated. After the refrigeration period (24 h at 4°C), the left pectoralis superficialis muscle was removed from the carcasses, weighed, vacuum packaged, and stored frozen (-40°C) for analyses of cholesterol and intramuscular collagen (IMC; collagen and crosslink concentration). In trial 1, divergent selection for yolk cholesterol content did not significantly influence pectoralis superficialis muscle weight and IMC crosslinking of Japanese quail, whereas it significantly reduced growth and IMC amount. In addition, it had greater effect on the amount of cholesterol in meat; in fact, the meat of quail with low yolk cholesterol content contained lower cholesterol (-36.6%) than that of birds with high yolk cholesterol content. In trial 2, divergent selection on the basis of Pharaoh quail BW decrease altered IMC crosslinking, leading to variability in meat tenderness of Pharaoh quail. In trial 3, English White quail were significantly heavier than the other breeds.

Fatty acid composition of meat and genetic mapping of quantitative trait loci in 3 generations of Japanese quail populations

“…On the contrary, in previous studies (Maiorano et al, 2009(Maiorano et al, , 2011 it was found a lower cholesterol level (ranging from 23.57 to 43.38 mg*100 g -1 ) in breast muscle of quail slaughtered at 35 days of age of different line. a SFA = saturated fatty acids; MUFA = monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acids; P/S = PUFA/SFA ratio.…”

“…Also for the muscle cholesterol content no significant difference was found between the 2 quail lines. Likewise, other studies did not find any statistically significant difference among the birds of egg line and meat line (Maiorano et al, 2009) and between different genetic groups (Maiorano et al, 2011). Egg-type quails supplied meat with a higher (+ 7 p.p.)…”

“…Nowadays, Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) has attained economic importance as an agricultural species producing eggs and meat that are enjoyed for their unique flavor. Several lines, breeds and varieties of Japanese quail have been developed for different production purposes (Genchev et al, 2008;Maiorano et al, 2011). Quail is one of the leanest type of poultry (Boni et al, 2010cited in Gecgel et al, 2015 and its meat is characterized by high protein and low fat contents, with a high degree of unsaturated fatty acids (FA) and low sodium and cholesterol levels (Gecgel et al, 2015).…”

Growth performance, meat quality traits, and genetic mapping of quantitative trait loci in 3 generations of Japanese quail populations (Coturnix japonica)

“…The contribution of collagen and its hydroxypyridinoline crosslinks (the main IMC mature crosslink) to meat toughness was recently reviewed by McCormick (2009). However, few studies are available on collagen crosslinks in quail intramuscular connective tissue (Maiorano et al, 2009(Maiorano et al, , 2011.…”

“…In the poultry world, quail-meat production is negligible when compared with that of broiler chickens, but nevertheless quail is a good source of meat and occupies a relevant place in poultry breeding and contributes to the global poultry industry (reviewed in Maiorano et al, 2009Maiorano et al, , 2011. The valuable taste and dietary properties of quail meat are pivotal in determining the growing interest of consumers to this product (Genchev et al, 2008).…”