Meat of Guinea fowl. II. Influence of the fattening period on main technological properties of Guinea fowl meat (Numida meleagris) a local population in Bulgaria

Matina Nikolova, Petya Veleva, Ivan Penchev

Abstract: A study on the basic technological properties of meat (pH, water-holding capacity, cooking loss,
and meat tenderness) from a free-ranged, pearly-gray local Bulgarian population of Guinea fowl was
conducted. The effect of three fattening periods (16, 20, and 24 weeks) in two consecutive economic
years was investigated. The average pH values of the breast muscles, reported for the period from 25
minutes to 24 hours after slaughter, varied from 6.70 to 5.74 for the group of male fowls and from
6.80 to 5.74 for the group of female fowls, respectively. The mean pH values of the thigh muscles
for the same period were: from 7.21 to 6.32 for the male fowls and from 7.53 to 6.21 for the female
individuals. The data analysis showed that bird sex and age did not affect the pH values of meat.
As the slaughter age increased, the values of WHC in the analyzed muscles decreased, which is the
reason for the breast and thigh muscles of Guinea fowls fattened for the longest period, to be evaluated
as being of the best quality. The investigation of the two types of muscles revealed that the thigh
muscles have better water-holding capacity compared to the breast muscles. No significant differences
between both sexes were reported for that characteristic. A significant effect of the fattening period
on the cooking loss was found, varying between 26.91% and 46.16% depending on the muscle type,
sex, and age of the birds. Meat tenderness was not affected by the bird sex and age at slaughter, with
average values ranging from 293.09 °P to 309.75 °P.

Keywords: Guinea fowl; meat; pH; technological properties; WHC

Date published: 2021-06-29