Influence of European chicken farming systems on breast meat composition and quality: insights from the H2020 INTAQT Project

Chicken meat consumption continues to rise steadily in Europe, sustaining the predominance of conventional fast-growing production systems. However, growing societal concerns about animal welfare and product quality are driving the development of alternative, less intensive, and more welfare-friendly farming approaches. One of the key objectives of the H2020 INTAQT project is to assess how various farming practices influence chicken meat quality, considering health, nutritional, sensory, and technological dimensions. To this end, the quality of breast and thigh meat was evaluated from 90 farms across 18 production systems in five European countries (France, Belgium, Italy, Poland, and Switzerland). These systems were classified into six categories based on growth rate, slaughter age and weight, and access to outdoor areas: Indoor_Fast_Heavy, Indoor_Fast, Indoor_Fast_Med, Outdoor_Fast_Heavy, Outdoor_Medium, and Outdoor_Slow. This presentation focuses on the breast meat’s proximate composition, sensory attributes, and technological properties. Our results indicate that the highest lipid content in breast meat is found in systems using the Ross 308 strain, whether intensive or extensive. In contrast, breast fillets from intensive systems (Indoor_Fast_Heavy, Indoor_Fast) show the lowest protein content and the highest water-to-protein ratios. These systems also produce meat with higher pH values (i.e., less acidic) than those using slower-growing genotypes. Interestingly, when Ross 308 birds are raised under extensive conditions (Outdoor_Fast_Heavy) — with slower growth and outdoor access — pH levels are similar to those observed in low-productivity, extensive systems. Despite their higher pH, meats from Ross 308 intensive systems exhibited greater drip and cooking losses, which may be linked to more frequent and severe muscle defects. In contrast, breast meat from ECC-type indoor systems (Indoor_Fast_Med), using intermediate-growing strains slaughtered at higher weights, showed the highest processing yield after curing and cooking. These fillets also had the lowest shear force values. This superior tenderness likely results from a normal pH range (around 5.8) combined with limited cooking losses, and was confirmed by a sensory panel. Ongoing Random Forest analyses aim to determine the relative contribution of individual farming practices and to develop targeted recommendations to help producers tailor meat quality to meet specific market demands.