Study of Some Quality Characteristics of Breast Meat Broiler as Fed on Chamomile Plant (Matricaria recutita)

This study was conducted at Poultry Farm, College of Agriculture where 192 broiler (Rose 388), were allocated to three treatment groups and received 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 % of the feed of chamomile plant for a period of 7 weeks. Then, the broiler were slaughtered and the breast cut were stored individually for 0, 3 and 6 days at 4°C±1. Several chemical, physical, sensory and microbial tests were studied, The following results were obtained:
1- The addition of chamomile plant powder to broiler ration led to increases in the moisture content, pH and water holding capacity, and decrease the percentage of drip and cooking loss in breast meat.
2-The addition of 0.6% of chamomile plant powder to broiler ration led to significantdecrease(P<0.05)inthe thiobarbituric acid (TBA), the peroxide value (PV) as compared to the other treatments for breast meat .
3-The results showed a significant(P<0.05)improvementintheorganolepticcharacteristics(flavour,juiciness,tenderness, overall palatability) of minced cold breast meat broiler as a result of addition chamomile plant powder in the ration .
4- The process of addition of chamomile plant powder to ration led to a significantreduction(P<0.05)oftotal plate count and psychrophilic count in breast meat during refrigerated storage periods.
It can be concluded that addition of chamomile plant powder to ration had positive significantinfluence on quality characteristics ,sensory and microbial safety of minced breast meat broiler when stored