Influence of Rapeseed Meal on the Eating Quality of Chicken I. Subjective Evaluation by a Trained Taste Panel and Objective Measurements

White Mountain × Hubbard broiler chickens were fed one of four rations: a soybean meal control ration (SBM); a soybean meal ration with a high fat and fiber content (SBMF); a 15% Span rapeseed meal ration (RSM); or, a 15% Span rapeseed meal ration with 5% herring meal, .1% DL methionine, and .05% choline chloride (RSMHM). At eight weeks of age, chickens from each treatment were commercially killed, eviscerated, and assigned to one of three storage periods: fresh, 18 days frozen storage, or 6 months frozen storage. Cooked light and dark meat and broth samples were evaluated subjectively. Objective measurements were also made. Results obtained indicate that: 1) feeding the RSMHM ration caused significantly lower scores for the odor, flavor, and overall acceptability of samples of light and dark chicken meat and broth than scores for comparable samples from chickens fed the other three rations, 2) inclusion of 15% Span rapeseed meal in the ration (RSM ration) resulted in significantly lower flavor and overall acceptability scores for dark meat samples and flavor scores for broth samples than comparable scores for dark meat and broth from chickens fed the SBM (control) ration, 3) tenderness scores for light and dark meat from chickens fed the RSMHM ration were significantly lower than tenderness scores for comparable samples from SBM chickens, however, shear force values were not significantly affected by ration treatment, 4) there were no significant differences in juiciness attributable to ration (taste panel data) and water holding capacity (WHC, 5) trained panelists indicated that, except for odor scores for light meat, dark meat, and broth samples and juiciness scores for light meat samples, broiler eating quality was not affected by frozen storage, 6) light meat samples from chickens held frozen for six months required less shear force than fresh or short frozen chickens, and 7) WHC of frozen chickens stored 6 months was significantly lower than WHC of fresh chickens.