RESPONSES OF 2 GENOTYPES OF CHICKEN TO THE DIETS AND STOCKING DENSITIES OF CONVENTIONAL UK AND LABEL ROUGE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS .2. SENSORY ATTRIBUTES

French Label Rouge quality chickens are reputed to possess improved se nsory characteristics compared with birds reared under intensive condi tions. The effects of genotype, diet, stocking density and age on eati ng quality were evaluated in a 2x2x2 experiment. The results suggest t hat genotype, diet, age and, to a lesser extent, stocking density can influence eating quality. The most pronounced sensory differences betw een the two genotypes were in the appearance and texture of the cooked meat. In particular; scores for toughness were higher for breast meat from Ross than ISA birds, though the opposite effect was observed for the thigh meat. Diet and age also affected texture, with the breast m eat from chickens on the Label Rouge diet, or from older birds, having lower scores for toughness. Effects on odour and flavour were general ly small and subject to genotype x diet interactions. The odour and fl avour intensity of breast meat increased with age, while the odour int ensity of thigh meat was higher in birds reared at low stocking densit y. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.