Pekin duckling and broiler chicken Pectoralis muscle structure and composition

A series of experiments was conducted to determine muscle fiber type, area, and distribution, and muscle total collagen, color, proximate composition, total fatty acid profile, calories, and cholesterol content for Pekin duckling and broiler chicken Pectoralis muscle. Duckling Pectoralis contained approximately 16% white fibers and 84% red fibers compared with 100% white fibers in the chicken Pectoralis. Duckling white fibers were significantly (P 0.05) smaller than broiler white fibers, 1,809 versus 3,346 micrometers2, respectively. Duckling red fibers averaged 301 micrometers2. Total collagen content of duckling Pectoralis muscle was 1.75 mg/g muscle and was significantly greater than chicken Pectoralis muscle (1.27 mg/g). The International Commission on Illumination redness (a) value was higher for duckling than chicken, whereas lightness (L) and yellowness (b) values were lower. Moisture and lipid contents were greater for duckling Pectoralis, 77.7 versus 74.2%, and 2.3 versus 1.6%, respectively, but duckling muscle contained less protein and ash, 19.5 versus 23.3%, and 1.09 versus 1.14%, respectively. Duckling Pectoralis contained more saturated and less monounsaturated fatty acids than chicken, with no difference between species for polyunsaturated fatty acids. Duckling Pectoralis muscle was lower in calories than chicken, 1.2 versus 1.4 kcal/g of muscle, but higher in cholesterol, 99.1 versus 47.4 mg/100 g of muscle