Effect of Animal-Welfare Environment on the Metabolomic Properties of Breast and Thigh Meat from Two Broiler Strains

This study investigates the metabolomic changes in breast and thigh meat from Cobb and Ross 308 chickens regarding the rearing environment. One-day-old Cobb and Ross broilers were raised for 35 days in conventional and animal welfare farms with, amongst others, different floor sizes, stock densities, and ammonia concentrations. One-dimensional H nuclear magnetic resonance, orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and pathway analyses were performed to analyze the metabolomic properties of broiler meat. For breast meat, only those from the Ross strain could be separated according to the environment in the OPLS-DA plot. Ross breast meat from animal welfare farms showed significantly higher acetate, anserine, creatine, and inosine monophosphate content than those from conventional farms (P<0.05). In contrast, for thigh meat, the Cobb strain was differentiated using OPLS-DA. The contents of five metabolites, such as glucose and lactate, were higher in thigh meat from animal welfare farms; however, nine metabolites, including seven free amino acids, were lower compared to those from conventional farms (P<0.05). Pathway analysis was performed to interpret the biological changes in chicken meat based on environmental factors. The results indicated that the animal welfare environment led to significant changes in four metabolic pathways in Ross breast meat and in 20 metabolic pathways in Cobb thigh meat (P<0.05). In conclusion, the animal welfare environment could influence the metabolomic properties of Ross breast meat and Cobb thigh meat, which may affect the sensory quality of meat. (