Assessment of poultry egg liking scores using sighted and blind people.

BACKGROUND: Of the 18 043 bird species, the eggs of only hen and quail are generally available to consumers. Thus people are deprived of the opportunity to benefit from the huge diversity of eggs offered by nature. Poultry eggs can vary in their color of albumen and yolk, smell, taste and texture. In this study, sighted and blind people were employed for sensory evaluation with the aim of determining the preferences of consumers toward hard-boiled and scrambled eggs of different species of birds, and whether the appearance of these eggs has an effect on the perception of other sensory impressions. RESULTS: Sighted people differently evaluated the texture of both boiled and scrambled eggs as compared with blind people. This was mainly because blind people largely used their sense of touch for evaluation. All other attributes of boiled eggs were evaluated similarly by both groups of panelists, whereas those of scrambled eggs were evaluated differently. CONCLUSION: The obtained results unequivocally demonstrated that differences in taste of scrambled eggs when served hot are easier to evaluate than those of boiled eggs. On the basis of ranking by the sensory panel, it was established that eggs of birds belonging to the order Galliformes are more preferred by consumers than those of duck and goose. By contrast, eggs of ostrich and emu are characterized by unfavorable sensory profiles; moreover, the albumen of boiled ostrich eggs has an unsightly appearance. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Femur and tibia development in meat-type chickens with different growth potential for 56 days of rearing period.

We studied the changes in morphological, geometric, densitometric, and mechanical parameters of the femur and tibia during 56 D of rearing chickens with different growth rates. Ten femur and tibia were collected from fast-growing chickens (FG) and 2 types of medium-growing chickens (MGH and MGGP) immediately after hatching (0 D) and on 7, 14, 21, 35, 42, 49, and 56 D of life. The bone parameters of chickens across all genetic groups were found to be similar on 0 D, with exceptions of lower percentage contribution of bone weight (BW) in FG chickens (P < 0.05), lower total bone volume in MGGP chickens (P < 0.05), and lower maximum elastic strength in MGH chickens (P < 0.05). The bones developed in FG chickens were longer and wider; however, an increase in bone mineral density (BMD) between 42 and 49 D was not observed. The BMD value in FG chickens on 56 D was comparable to that in MGH chickens (P = 0.089) and significantly lower than that in MGGP chickens (P = 0.021). Mean relative wall thickness, despite longer and thicker bones in FG chickens, was comparable and often lower than that of MGH and MGGP chickens. In conclusion, the results showed that medium-growing chickens could be reared for up to 56 D without the risk of any growth impairment due to problems associated with deterioration of pelvic limb bone quality.