Effects of season, genotype and rearing system on some meat quality traits for broilers raised in semi-intensive systems

We compared fast-growing and slow-growing broilers raised in extensive indoor, free-range, and traditional free-range systems in terms of meat quality in spring and summer. Five different semi-intensive broiler production applications (fast- in extensive indoor, slow- in extensive indoor, fast- in free-range, slow- in free-range and slow- in traditional free-range) were used according to EU standards. Extensive indoor and free-range birds were slaughtered at 57 days of age and traditional free-range chickens at 82 days. The higher (P<0.05) skin yellowness (b*) values found in spring compared to summer may have been due to better pasture conditions in spring. The pH(24) value of breast meat during the summer period was higher (P<0.05) than that in spring, but lightness (L*) was similar. Thawing and cooking losses were higher (P<0.05) in breast meat samples from the summer experiment. The season affected (P<0.05) all sensory attributes of breast meat; spring samples were appreciated more in terms of all the features discussed. Regarding the skin b* value, the highest average value was detected for slow chickens in the slow- in free-range and traditional free-range groups, most likely because slow chickens spent more time grazing. Fast- showed higher pH(24) values than slow- (P<0.05) in extensive indoor and free-range groups. We did not observe differences in pH(24) due to grazing in fast-, but grazing slow- showed lower pH(24) values than their indoor counterparts. Further, in the extensive indoor system, both genotypes were similar in terms of breast meat L* and b*, whereas slow- in the free-range system showed higher (P<0.05) averages than fast-. Based on our results, the traditional grazing system has a positive impact on meat sensory features.