Comparison of the amounts of endogenous bioactive compounds in raw and cooked meats from commercial broilers and indigenous chickens

A study was conducted to compare carnosine, anserine, betaine and carnitine contents of breast and leg (combined thigh and drumstick) meat from Korean native chickens (KNCs) and commercial broilers (CBs) at their market ages (100 and 32 d, respectively) and to determine the changes in these compounds during moist heat cooking. In general, KNCs showed significantly higher histidyl dipeptide and carnitine contents and a lower betaine content than CBs (p < 0.05). Significantly higher histidyl dipeptide contents were observed in breast meat, while leg meat had more betaine and carnitine contents (p < 0.05). Significant decreases in the content of all compounds analysed in this study occurred during cooking (p < 0.05). Meat from KNCs is a good source of carnosine, anserine, and carnitine compared to that from CBs, which has a higher content of betaine. In addition, the contents of these endogenous compounds are significantly affected by the meat portion and the cooking process (p < 0.05).