Study on muscle histological structure and meat quality of Guinea foul (Numida meleagris) fattened to different ages

Desislava Vangelova, Matina Nikolova, Desislav Balev, Angel Angelov

Abstract: A study was carried out on the muscle microstructure in a local population of Guinea foul with a
pearl-colored plumage. The experiment was performed with three groups of Guinea foul chicks, 30
birds in each group (equal number of both sexes) fattened to different ages (16, 20 and 24 weeks). The
results of the histological analysis were consistent with the values of pH, WHC and meat tenderness in
both sexes for the respective ages of the Guinea foul. The muscle fibers of male and female individuals
at 16 weeks of age had the finest structure and the smallest diameter. Although the diameter of the
muscle fibers increased with age in both sexes, no significant differences were found in tenderness
of the breast muscle meat. At 25 min after slaughter pH in tights was higher than pH in breasts non
depending of the age. To 24 h post mortem pH significantly decreased both in breast and tights,
regardless of sex and age. The decrease in WHC was most affected by age (from 16 to 24 weeks) in
m. femorotibialis both for males and females guinea towl (Numida meleagris) while m. pectoralis
superficialis was slightly affected by age and sex.

Keywords: Guinea foul; meat quality; muscle histological structure

Date published: 2022-06-28