Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Ecology, Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
J Sci Food Agric. 2012 Aug 30;92(11):2239-43. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.5609. Epub 2012 Feb 8.
Meat safety and nutrition are major concerns of consumers. The development of distinctive poultry production methods based on locally available natural resources is important. Grasshoppers are rich in important nutrients and occur in dense concentrations in most rangelands of northern China. Foraging chickens could be used to suppress grasshopper infestations. However, knowledge of the fatty acid content of meat from free-range broilers reared on alpine rangeland is required.
Rearing conditions and diet did not significantly (P > 0.05) affect concentrations of saturated fatty acid (SFA), arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid or the ratio of total n-6 to total n-3 fatty acids. Breast muscle of chickens that had consumed grasshoppers contained significantly (P < 0.05) less monounsaturated fatty acid, but the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)/SFA and contents of total n-3, total n-6 and PUFA were significantly (P > 0.05) higher than intensively reared birds. Compared with meat from intensively reared birds, meat from free-range broilers had less cholesterol and higher concentrations of total lipid and phospholipids.
Chickens eating grasshoppers in rangeland produce superior quality meat and reduce the grasshopper populations that damage the pastures. This provides an economic system of enhanced poultry-meat production, which derives benefits from natural resources rather than artificial additives.
肉类安全和营养是消费者关注的主要问题。基于当地可用的自然资源开发独特的家禽生产方法非常重要。蝗虫富含重要营养物质，在中国北方大部分牧场都密集存在。觅食鸡可用于抑制蝗虫的侵袭。然而，需要了解高山牧场散养肉鸡的肉中脂肪酸的含量。
饲养条件和饮食并没有显著（P>0.05）影响饱和脂肪酸（SFA）、花生四烯酸、二十二碳六烯酸或总 n-6 与总 n-3 脂肪酸比例的浓度。食用蝗虫的鸡肉胸肌中含有明显（P<0.05）较少的单不饱和脂肪酸，但多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）/SFA 的比例以及总 n-3、总 n-6 和 PUFA 的含量明显（P>0.05）高于集约化饲养的鸟类。与集约化饲养的鸟类的肉相比，散养肉鸡的肉胆固醇含量较低，总脂质和磷脂含量较高。
在牧场上吃蝗虫的鸡生产出优质的肉，并减少了破坏牧场的蝗虫种群。这提供了一种增强家禽肉类生产的经济系统，它从自然资源中获得收益，而不是人工添加剂。
