Meat Safety and Quality of Broiler Chickens Supplemented with Thyme Essential Oil

Ninety, one-day-old Cobb chicks were randomly divided into 3 groups, each with 3 replicates. A control group was fed a standard diet, whereas the other two treatment groups received a diet with 0.2 or 0.3 mL thyme essential oil (TEO) per kg of the diet for 21 days. The 0.3 group had more meat protein (P ≤ 0.048) than the control group, while the other meat constituents have not changed. Meat sensory parameters (external aspect, odour, colour, and elasticity) declined (P < 0.001), while meat quality parameters (pH, total volatile nitrogen TVN, thiobarbituric acid number TBA, peroxide value PV, and free fatty acids FFA) increased (P < 0.001), through storage of the groups. In TEO groups, improved (P < 0.001) meat overall scores, external aspect and muscular elasticity was observed compared to control. Quality parameters were improved (P < 0.001) including pH, TVN, TBA, PV, and FFA, compared to control during storage. TEO had no effect on heavy metal concentrations while reducing bacterial contamination in meat. TEO 0.2 samples were positive for Salmonella Kentuckey and Staphylococcus aureus, while TEO 0.3 group were free from pathogenic bacteria. Thyme essential oil can enhance quality, and safety of the chilled broiler’s breast meat.