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In recent times, food is not only observed from the point of view of the required intake for growth, development and regeneration of the body, but also has a leading role in the quality of human life. Therefore, the diet focuses on optimizing the daily intake of both nutrients and non-nutritive ingredients of food, all in order to preserve health and, above all, reduce the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases. Functional food can be considered food that has been scientifically proven to have a positive effect on certain body functions (in addition to the usual nutritional value) that contribute to human health and reduce the risk of disease. At the same time, it is important that the food has a standard form and that the positive effect on health is manifested by consuming the usual amount of food. The functionality of food is achieved by the presence in it of bioactive components (one or more) which have been scientifically proven to have positive effects on human health in the quantities in which they are present in food. The nutritional value of foods of animal origin depends on many factors, but certainly animal diet has the greatest impact. In human nutrition the so-called designed products of animal origin (meat, milk, eggs) are used, which are due to the specific animal diets enriched with n-3 fatty acids, vitamins, carotenoids or trace elements. Today, there are nutritional strategies by which we can access functional foods for the purpose of health promotion.

The genetic selection toward bigger broilers provoked the development of muscular myopathies and abnormalities. Since the affected meat is downgraded and often inadequate for further processing, economic losses to the broiler industry are inevitable. In addition, not only the nutritional value of the meat has been decreased, but also sensory properties and technological traits seem to concern consumers more. This can have a very negative attitude toward poultry meat as consumers connect these traits with poor animal welfare. To avoid these problems in the future, new studies must be focused on identifying markers in live birds for newly developed myopathies. Also, better strategies for determining genetic factors, nutritional and slaughter conditions, and hence meat quality, are a complex concept, and all factors together have an impact on parameters of meat quality.

Recently, poultry meat production and consumption has become increased worldwide. Decades of intensive selection in poultry breeding resulted in fast-growing broilers, improved food conversion, low production costs, and high yield of breast meat, as the most valuable part of the carcass. Some side-effects of intensive production and rapid growth of broilers include the appearance of myopathies in breast muscle. Increasing attention has been paid to the defect known as "wooden breast" (WB) due its incidence and severity of anomaly. WB is characterized by the hardness and pale colour of the fillet. These changes lower the consumer acceptance of the meat, and a pronounced WB is unsuitable for culinary and industrial processing. Different procedures can be used to tenderize the meat and include physical and chemical procedures, often combined in industry. Physical procedures comprise the application of heating, mechanical force, ultrasound, electric stimulation, hydrodynamic shock wave-pressure technology, high pressure processing, and pulsed electric field. Chemical procedures include marinating, exposure to the endogenous enzymes, and the use of exoenzymes. In the future, it is necessary to develop optimal tenderizing techniques or combinations of different tenderizing techniques to achieve better sensory quality and improved nutritional value of WB.

Recently, poultry meat production and consumption has become increased worldwide. Decades of intensive selection in poultry breeding resulted in fast-growing broilers, improved food conversion, low production costs, and high yield of breast meat, as the most valuable part of the carcass. Some side-effects of intensive production and rapid growth of broilers include the appearance of myopathies in breast muscle. Increasing attention has been paid to the defect known as "wooden breast" (WB) due its incidence and severity of anomaly. WB is characterized by the hardness and pale colour of the fillet. These changes lower the consumer acceptance of the meat, and a pronounced WB is unsuitable for culinary and industrial processing. Different procedures can be used to tenderize the meat and include physical and chemical procedures, often combined in industry. Physical procedures comprise the application of heating, mechanical force, ultrasound, electric stimulation, hydrodynamic shock wave-pressure technology, high pressure processing, and pulsed electric field. Chemical procedures include marinating, exposure to the endogenous enzymes, and the use of exoenzymes. In the future, it is necessary to develop optimal tenderizing techniques or combinations of different tenderizing techniques to achieve better sensory quality and improved nutritional value of WB.

The genetic selection toward bigger broilers provoked the development of muscular myopathies and abnormalities. Since the affected meat is downgraded and often inadequate for further processing, economic losses to the broiler industry are inevitable. In addition, not only the nutritional value of the meat has been decreased, but also sensory properties and technological traits seem to concern consumers more. This can have a very negative attitude toward poultry meat as consumers connect these traits with poor animal welfare. To avoid these problems in the future, new studies must be focused on identifying markers in live birds for newly developed myopathies. Also, better strategies for determining genetic factors, nutritional and slaughter conditions, and hence meat quality, are a complex concept, and all factors together have an impact on parameters of meat quality.

In recent times, food is not only observed from the point of view of the required intake for growth, development and regeneration of the body, but also has a leading role in the quality of human life. Therefore, the diet focuses on optimizing the daily intake of both nutrients and non-nutritive ingredients of food, all in order to preserve health and, above all, reduce the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases. Functional food can be considered food that has been scientifically proven to have a positive effect on certain body functions (in addition to the usual nutritional value) that contribute to human health and reduce the risk of disease. At the same time, it is important that the food has a standard form and that the positive effect on health is manifested by consuming the usual amount of food. The functionality of food is achieved by the presence in it of bioactive components (one or more) which have been scientifically proven to have positive effects on human health in the quantities in which they are present in food. The nutritional value of foods of animal origin depends on many factors, but certainly animal diet has the greatest impact. In human nutrition the so-called designed products of animal origin (meat, milk, eggs) are used, which are due to the specific animal diets enriched with n-3 fatty acids, vitamins, carotenoids or trace elements. Today, there are nutritional strategies by which we can access functional foods for the purpose of health promotion.

Fats in animal and human nutrition are a common subject of research. These studies most often pay attention to particular fat groups (saturated, unsaturated, polyunsaturated fats or fats grouped by the length of their fatty acid chains into short, medium or long chain fatty acids). Medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) have two main sources: milk and coconut oil. To date, research has shown these acids have positive effects on health, production, feed digestibility and lower body and muscle fats in broilers and swine. MCFAs possess antibacterial, anticoccidial and antiviral effects. Also, it has been proven that these acids act synergistically if they are used together with organic acids, essential oils, or probiotics. Nowadays, commercial MCFA products are available for use in animal nutrition as feed additives.