Tastes Like Chicken!

Novel microalgae-based feed ingredient, FORC3®, has no impact on the flavour profile of chicken

Maintaining chicken breast meat quality is of paramount importance to poultry producers throughout the world. When introducing an entirely novel feed additive into the production process, it is imperative that doing so will not adversely affect the sensory characteristics of the final product.

As such, in collaboration with researchers at Mississippi State University, Axitan recently conducted a blind taste-test to investigate the impact of its microalgae-based feed ingredient, FORC3®, on broiler meat sensory properties.

The study consisted of 5 treatment groups, 180 birds total, that were fed an all-veg, antibiotic-free diet supplemented with varying amounts of FORC3® (ranging from 250 – 2500 ppm) over a 49-day period.

Panellists were asked to evaluate the differences in chicken breasts relative to a known control with respect to appearance, aroma, flavour, texture and juiciness.  Each test used 7 panellists, who combined had total of greater than 500 hours evaluating chicken breast sensory properties.

Samples for each treatment were pulled from three different chicken breasts. Each chicken breast was cut into a 200 g uniform rectangular pieces and oven-baked (without any spices, seasonings or breading) at 350°F (177°C) until reaching an internal temperature of 170°F (77°C).

Panellists could not distinguish, for all attributes evaluated, the meat from FORC3®-treated birds to the meat from the control birds (P > 0.05).  This indicates that the dietary treatments did not impart flavour or change other sensory characteristics of the chicken breasts.

To the company’s knowledge, this is the first time such a study has been conducted and is a major step towards gaining industry acceptance to FORC3®.