The poultry industry has been making an effort to satisfy the needs of the consumers and to add value to their products. Since Annatto is considered an excellent color additive, the aim of this study is to evaluate its behavior in the cooked broiler meat. A hundred animals were divided into four groups and treated with 0; 1; 2, and 3% of annatto in the feed. For the evaluation of the coloration of the cuts, the Hunter Lab system was used. For the parameter L, the breast cuts were inversely proportional to legs cuts, decreasing with the increase of the annatto percentage for the breast cuts and increasing for the leg cuts. For the parameter Chroma, the cuts presented similar behavior, increasing with the increase of the annatto percentage. The other parameters (a, b, and Hue-Angle) did not present significant differences. Therefore, the use of annatto to increase pigmentation in broiler meats increases with the increase of the annatto percentage in the feed of the animals.
Bixa orellana L.; Hunter Lab system; meat coloration; broiler meat
