Comparison of meat quality characteristics between young and spent quails

The aim of this study was to determine the meat quality characteristics of young and spent quail meats. Young quail meat (age 8 week ± 3 days) and spent quail meat (age 8 month ± 3 days) were used in this experiment. Comparison of the proximate compositions, pH, colour, and fatty acid of quail meats showed significant differences (p<0.05). The young quail meat had significantly higher moisture, protein, and ash content than the spent quail meat (p<0.05), while it showed significantly lower fat content compared to spent quail meat (p<0.05). The pH of spent quail (6.62) was higher than young quail (6.53). Colour parameters for young and spent quail meats were, L*=58.93, a*=12.86, b*=20.86 and L*=61.54, a*=6.84, b*=19.81, respectively. Fatty acid composition of the spent quail meat did not suggest any large variations compared with young quail meat. The major fatty acids of both quail meat were oleic acid (C-18:1n9), linoleic acid (C-18:2n6), palmitic acid (C-16:0) and stearic acid (C-18:0). This study showed the differentiation in proximate, colour, pH and fatty acid composition with occur between young and spent quails.