In order to examine the usefulness of restricted feeding often employed in chicken productions, effects of short-term restricted feeding on taste components of broiler meat, i. e., free amino acids and ATP metabolites, were studied using 49-day-old female Cobb strain broilers. In experiment 1, chickens were fed an experimental diet ad libitum (control), or the 50% or 25% amount of the control group (restricted feeding) for 10 days. Free amino acids and ATP metabolites of the breast meat extract

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... were determined. In experiment 2, the time course of changes in free glutamic acid (Glu) and ATP metabolites by restricted feeding (50% of control) period was studied for 14 days. In experiment 3, in order to see the correlation between the chemical composition and the meat taste, the sensory evaluation of meat extract and meat were conducted. As a result, of all free amino acids in the meat extract, only Glu and arginine were significantly lower in the restricted groups than in the control group. Glu decreased gradually with time by restricted feeding down to 64.0% significantly on day 10. 5'-inosinic acid (IMP) in the meat extract was increased 12.8% on day 2, and remained constant thereafter. Sensory evaluation indicated that the taste of meat extract as well as of meat in the restricted group was inferior to that in the control group. All the results suggest that restricted feeding may deteriorate the meat taste of broilers rather than improve it, contrary to a general expectation. Therefore, we should be cautious to use restricted feeding to improve the meat quality of chicken.