Review on Slow and Fast Growing Chicken Varieties Physicochemical Qualities

Abstract

India is the fourth largest chicken producer after China, Brazil, and the USA. The per capita consumption of chicken has gone up from 400 gm to 2.5 kg per year, and human nutritionists recommend 10 kg chicken per year. To feed billions of Indian population, there is a lot of scope for the chicken industry to enhance the production. At the same time, many studies revealed that genotype significantly affects functional properties as well as the nutritional characteristics of chicken. The fast-growing chicken strains appear to be more attractive both for industrial and consumer use whereas from a nutritional point of view meat from slow growing chicken strains appears healthier (less fat and higher content of n-3 PUFA) and thus might better fit with the consumer s prospect. In acceptability for meat quality, slow growing chicken showed the better sensory quality of the chicken breast meat. Thus, for the demand of customer s for the higher quality of chicken meat, it is suggested to use slow growing chicken in alteration to fast-growing broilers. This review deals with the effects of genotypes (slow growing and fast growing broilers) on physicochemical and organoleptic traits of chicken.