THE INFLUENCE OF PROPOLIS SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE TECHNOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AND MACRONUTRIENT CONTENT OF SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of dietary supplementation with propolis on the technological properties of skinless chicken breasts evaluated through breast muscle pH value measured 45 minutes (pH1) and 24 hours post mortem (pH2), water-holding capacity of breast muscle, consistency of breast muscle and its color (L*, a*, b*) and to determine its macronutrient content (protein and fat content). The study was conducted on 180 Ross 308 chickens equally distributed by sex and divided into three groups: the control group of chickens (C) fed with a basal diet and two experimental groups of chickens (E) fed with the same diet supplemented with propolis (E1 2g/kg and E2 4g/kg). There was no statistically significant difference between C and E considering pH1 (p=0.260) but there was statistically significant difference between them considering pH2 (p=0.037). There was statistically significant difference in L* breast muscle color (p=0.039) between C and E while there were no statistically significant differences in a* and b* breast muscle color between them (p=0.167 and p=0.637, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences between the C and E considering water-holding capacity (p=0.767) and consistency (p=0.505) of breast muscle. There were no statistically significant differences in protein and fat content between C and E (p=0.368 and p=0.244, respectively). The obtained results confirm the benefits of the tested supplementation