الملخص الإنجليزي
ABSTRACT Poultry meat safety and quality are the two top priorities of great concern for consumers today, Safety issues are associated with consumer's health with hazard include chemical, biological and physical contaminants in food. Quality issues reflect the level of quality characteristics of food products in terms of nutritional value, composition and quality parameters as well as consumer's acceptance of the product. In this study a total of 90 broiler poultry products (frozen, fresh, minced, sausages, burgers and mortadella meats) were analyzed for quality characteristics (tenderness, pH, expressed juice, sarcomere length, colour), nutritive value (amino acid and fatty acid profiles), proximate composition (dry matter, protein, fat and ash) and chemical contaminates (antibiotics: streptomycin, tetracycline, sulfamethazine and sulfamethoxazole, hormones: testosterone, trenbolone and estrogen, pesticides: 2,4 D, DDT/DDE, triclosan, alachlor and organophosphate/carbonate and melamine concentration levels) using ELISA. Meat quality characteristics including tenderness, cooking loss, colour, sarcomere length and pH of broiler products available in local market were within the normal range for other broiler products available in elsewhere in the world. There were no significant differences in quality parameters between various brands used in the current study. Proximate chemical analysis of broiler meat products demonstrated small variations between different brands, Stearic acid (C18:0) was the most abundant saturated fatty acid in broiler chicken meat, followed by palmetic stearic acid (C16:0). The predominant monounsaturated fatty acids was palmitoleic acid (C16:1), while linoleic acid (C18:2n6) was the predominant polyunsaturated fatty acid in broiler chicken The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids in broiler chicken meat ranged from 0.47 to 0.88. Chicken meat partially satisfies nutritional guidelines as it is a better source of polyunsaturated fatty acid compared with red meat. Meat samples contained various levels of residues of different chemical substances tested. With the exception of testosterone and estrogen, levels of the chemical contaminates were below the international allowable levels set by the German Residue Control Plan and the European Union. The range of testosterone (0.22-1.01 ppb) and estrogen (0.23-0.59 ppb) were above the detectable limit (0.10) set by the Germany Residue Control Plan. This study indicated that poultry meat products sold in Oman generally contains some residues of antibiotics, anabolic agents and pesticides. Although the levels were within the allowable limits, their presence may still be regarded as a health hazard as they may cause allergic reactions or produce drug-tolerant bacteria in humans. More care is needed to monitor importation regulations of poultry meat intended for human consumption.
