Influence of flock treatment with the antibiotic tylosin on poultry meat quality: results of a preliminary experiment

The veterinary antibiotic tylosin was administered to broilers at sub-therapeutic and therapeutic levels to study its effect on the quality of poultry breast meat. No statistically significant differences were observed in moisture content, pH, drip loss, colour and extent of lipid oxidation between the breast meat from treated and not treated birds. However, the cooking loss of the meat from the birds administered tylosin was significantly higher than that from the not treated ones. Additionally, the mean shear force of the breast meat was significantly lower for the sub-therapeutically treated broilers than for the not treated and the therapeutically treated ones. It was concluded that the level at which tylosin was administered to the broilers affected the quality of the breast meat, particularly its textural properties.