Relationship between the Lactic Acid Content and Sour Taste of Broiler Broth and the Broth of -a Japanese Chicken.

The present study aimed to determine whether lactic acid content is associated with the intensity of the sour taste of broth. Chicken broth was prepared using breast () and leg (thigh + drumstick) meat of male and female and broilers. These broths were assessed by a screened and trained panel and analyzed for sour taste substances (lactic, citric, pyruvic, malic, succinic, acetic, phosphoric, aspartic, and glutamic acids) and pH. The sensory sour taste was significantly higher in the breast broth than in the broiler breast broth (>0.001), and no significant difference was observed in the leg broths among the breeds (<0.05). breast broth had a significantly higher lactic acid content than broiler breast broth (<0.001). The leg meat broth of male had a significantly lower lactic acid content than that of female and broiler leg meat (<0.01). The sensory sour taste score was significantly and positively correlated with lactic acid content in the breast broth (<0.001), but not in the leg broth (<0.1). No other organic acids were detected. Phosphoric acid and glutamic acid contents were higher in broiler broth than in broth for both breast and leg meat (<0.001). In the breast broth, the aspartic acid content was not significantly different (>0.1), and in the leg broth, it was higher in broiler and female broth than in male broth (<0.001). The present study suggests that high lactic acid content contributes to the sour taste of the breast broth and demonstrated that the lactic acid content is an essential indicator for determining the sour taste of breast meat.