First Report on Better Functional Property of Black Chicken Meat from India

Background: Indian domesticated chickens have a wide variety of phenotypes. Unlike other chicken breeds, Kadaknath chicken has black meat and is used by indigenous tribal people for its invigorating and therapeutic properties. To look for the functional traits that might be contributing towards the acclaimed benefits, free radical scavenging capacity and metal chelating ability of Kadaknath meat were explored for the first time in comparison to the commercial Cobb broiler. Methods: During the period 2018-2020, breast and thigh meat were collected from chickens (n=20/ group) at their commercial slaughter age. Meat extract was used for qualitative evaluation of protein as well as the antioxidant capacity utilizing diverse in vitro methods corresponding to different antioxidation mechanisms. Result: Protein concentration (g/100g of tissue) in Kadaknath breast (25.25 ± 0.31) and thigh (19.98 ± 0.29) meat was significantly (P less than 0.05) higher than the Cobb. Breast meat had better scavenging capacity than the thigh. The superiority of the antioxidant capacity of Kadaknath meat was explicitly established by more than one in vitro assay. Free radical scavenging assays viz. 2,2-azinobis (3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS); 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) had significantly (P less than 0.05) higher values for Kadaknath in comparison to the Cobb broiler meat. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) values (mM Fe2+/g of tissue) were also more in breast meat of Kadaknath (26.97±0.37) than the Cobb (15.24±0.40). Similarly, FRAP values were higher in Kadaknath (33.85±0.47) than the Cobb (19.2±0.31) thigh meat. Kadaknath had higher antioxidant capacity as reflected by metal chelation inhibition value. These findings help to explain the unique nutritional and functional characteristics of Kadaknath black-bone chicken and provide basic research data for exploring the commercial potential of its meat in the fields of functional foods, cosmeceuticals and nuutraceuticals.