Carcass Characteristics and Nutritional Composition of Some Edible Chicken By-products

The objective of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of chicken carcass and determine the nutritional composition of some edible chicken by-products, including liver, gizzard, wings, and skin. The total yield of liver, gizzard, wings and skin of chicken was found to be about 23.43%of carcass weight. The results showed that these chicken by-products are good sources of protein, fat, and minerals (ash). The greatest protein content was found to be 26.33% (wb) for wings; while, skin showed the greatest fat content of 34.48% (wb) compared with other by-products. On the other hand, liver showed the greatest ash content of 1.42% (wb) and skin showed the lowest ash content of 0.46% (wb). Moreover, the greatest caloric value of 362.36 Kcal/100 g was found for skin, followed by wings, liver, and gizzard. In addition, the results showed good contents of potassium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, and zinc in chicken by-products. These by-products were found to be a good source of essential amino acids such as leucine and lysine. Furthermore, liver, gizzard, wings, and skin of chicken showed greater unsaturated fatty acids content than that of saturated fatty acids. Oleic, linoleic, linolenic, and arachidonic acids are the most predominant unsaturated fatty acids found in these chicken by-products. However, palmitic and stearic acids are the predominant saturated fatty acids found in the studied chicken by-products. The obtained results revealed that the liver, gizzard, wings, and skin of chicken are rich of healthy nutrients; therefore, the utilization of these by-products as food should be promoted by development of new food products through the advances in meat processing techniques.