Effect of the aging period on meat quality and consumption properties of spent laying hens

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of aging period on meat quality and consumption properties of spent laying hens during 10-15 oC. The duration of the meat aging period was divided into eight treatments. 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 42 hours. Sixty-four spent laying hens were assigned into each treatment in a complete randomized design (CRD) with eight replications. The consumer’s acceptance was tested using a five-level satisfaction scale. The results showed that textural quality of the meat in groups 6-8 had higher consumer acceptance than from groups 1-5 with significant difference (p< 0.05). The textural quality values in each treatment ranged from the lowest to the highest were: 3.09 (T1), 3.16 (T2), 3.21 (T3), 3.47 (T4), 3.44 (T5), 3.87 (T6), 3.92 (T7), and 4.01 (T8), respectively. For meat quality parameters, there were significant difference (p<0.05) on the pH (at 24 hours), cooking loss percentage, compression force, shear force, and hardness. However, some parameters showed non-significant difference such as the drip loss, color of meat (L*, a*, b*) chroma, gumminess, springiness, chewiness, and aw values. It was therefore concluded that the aging period could result in better texture of the meat spent laying hens.