Improvement of Meat Taste by Dietary Components

Dietary nutrients play a significant part in determining growth rate and meat yield. It is known that the compositions of protein and total amino acids of meat are invariable by feeding treatments, hence the meat taste is considered to be invariable. However, the relationship of taste components of meat with nutrients is not fully elucidated, and there have been few reports on the effect of feeding treatments on taste-active components of chicken meat. Previously, restricted feeding and dietary low metabolizable energy levels decreased the free Glu contents of meat, and the meat taste was deteriorated (Fujimura et al., 1997, 2001). In the present study, the effect of dietary CP and amino acid levels before marketing on broiler meat composition, i.e., free amino acids and ATP metabolites were studied using Cobb strain female broilers. As a result of this study, free Glu and sensory score in meat were increased in high CP diet, and free Glu contents increased by dietary CP levels for 3 to 10 days. Because the variation of the taste component improves the meat taste, the feeding condition is one of the important factors affecting the meat taste of chickens. For investigate the mechanism, Glu relate enzymes were analyzed. As a result, muscular Kidney type glutaminase (KGA) and glutamate dehydrogenase activities were changed by the dietary protein levels. Functional feedback regulation of KGA affected the Glu in muscle after 5 day, therefore, the short-time feeding of high CP diet, especially 3 to 5days, is more appropriate to improve the meat taste. These results suggest that meat taste can be improved by dietary components