Comparative study of meat quality in thrush, woodcock and starling in Apulia

The Apulian gastronomic tradition in the autumn-winter period includes several specialities based on the wintering avifauna hunting. Thrush and woodcock are among the most representative bird species hunted in December and January. The hunt of the starling, forbidden in the other Italian regions, has been authorised by derogation in the provinces of Bari and Brindisi, during the hunting seasons 2017/2018, in order to restrain the damage caused by these birds on olive crops in the area. The research meant to evaluate meat quality traits of thrush (T), woodcock (W) and starling (S) hunted in Apulia during the hunting season 2017/2018. Meat pH, colour, chemical and fatty acid composition were assessed on the Pectoralis major muscle in eight birds of each species. The pH value (6.38) was significantly p<#.01) higher in meat from S as compared to W (5.77) and T (5.70). Meat from T was significantly (p<#.01) darker (28.4 vs. 21.4–23.1, respectively for S and W) and had higher redness (15.2 vs. 3.7–4.7, respectively for S and W) and yellowness (7.8 vs. 3.6–3.9, respectively for W and S). T meat chemical composition showed the highest amount of fat (4.7 vs. 0.7 and 1.9%; resp. for S and W; p<#.01) while the lowest one of protein (18.5 vs. 22.2 and 21.7%, respectively for W and S; p<#.01). Fatty acid profile of meat from T showed the best nutritional properties as compared to the other two birds since a significantly (p<#.01) higher concentration of MUFA was recorded (72.4 vs. 47.1 and 49.4%, respectively for S and W), in turn of a lower SFA content (14.5 vs. 36.1 and 32.2%, respectively for W and S). Meat from S showed the highest (p<#.01) PUFA concentration (20.8%) in comparison with both T (13.5%) and W (14.3%). While no difference aroused between species regarding the 3 concentration, meat from S showed a significantly (p<#.01) greater content of 6 fatty acids (15.7 vs. 8.9 and 9.0, respectively for W and T). As a consequence, also the 6/3 ratio was higher (p<# .01) in S meat (3.5) as compared to both W (1.8) and T (2.4). Meat from T was the healthiest since it showed the lowest (p<#.01) IA (0.08 vs. 0.50 and 0.17, respectively for W and S) and IT (0.11 vs. 0.30 and 0.26, respectively for W and S) indices. This result may be due to the different eating habits of thrush which prefers berries and fruits instead of insects that, on the other hand, are the main feeding source for woodcock and starling.