Impact of feeding bigheaded carp fish meal on meat quality and sensory attributes in organic broiler chickens

Novel protein feeds are needed in ecological and organic poultry production to supply natural sources of amino acids, particularly methionine. Synthetic amino acids are increasingly banned in certified organic production. Carp is an invasive fish in the United States and its harvest can help provide natural source of methionine, while reducing an undesirable population. In our previous study, we formulated a diet using extruded carp-based meal (CBM) to replace synthetic methionine in broiler diets and conducted a feeding trial to test its effect on broiler performance. For this study, birds were processed at the end of the feeding trial and evaluated for quality and sensory attributes of meat from birds fed with CBM diet. Controls were normal diet that contained methionine and the carp meal was used to replace methionine and a portion of soybean meal. Results suggest that birds fed with CBM diet did not differ from the Control in live weight, carcass weight, breast weight, ready-to-cook yield, wing yield, tenders, and thigh yields (P> 0.05). Breast meat was more light (L*) for birds from the CBM treatment compared to the Control and the pH was lower (P< 0.05). For the thigh meat, birds fed CBM diets resulted in higher protein and less fat compared to the Control (P< 0.05). In the consumer analysis, overall impression, flavor, and mouthfeel were lower for the CBM breast meat than the Control and scored lower in terms of tenderness and juiciness (P< 0.05). Interestingly, thigh meat from CBM had more omega-3 fatty acids, which has a human health benefit. The results indicate that carp-based meal hold potential as a novel protein to replace synthetic methionine in organic broiler diets.