Quality Attributes Of Two Species Of Indigenous Guinea Fowl Meat As Influenced By Storage Conditions

Abstract

This study examined the effect of frozen storage, prepackaging (Polyethylene film, 0.04mm thick) and salting (0.5% Nacl solution) on the quality of meats from two indigenous species (Black and Pearl) of
guinea fowl stored at  -10C for 10 weeks. Three randomly selected frozen birds per treatment/specie were weighed and percentage loss, pH, water holding capacity, percentage cooking loss and sensory (colour, juiciness, tenderness, flavour and overall acceptability) quality scores of the samples were determined. As the duration of storage of the guinea fowl meats increased percentage of weight loss, cooking loss, pH, and tenderness scores increased (P < 0.05). Prepackaging or salting of guinea fowl meats reduced (P< 0.05) percentages of weight loss, cooking loss and increased (P < 0.05) pH, water holding Capacity and sensory quality scores, Combination of salting and prepackaging reduced (P < 0.05) further the percentages of weight loss, cooking loss and enhanced pH, water holding capacity and sensory quality scores. It appeared that there was no species variation in all the parameters studied.

Keywords: Guinea fowl, frozen, prepackaging, Salting, meat quality