Selaledi, Letlhogonolo AndrewBaloyi, JosephineMbajiorgu, ChristianSebola, Amenda NthabisengDe Kock, Henrietta LetitiaMabelebele, Monnye2022-08-032022-08-032021-12-14Selaledi, L.; Baloyi, J.; Mbajiorgu, C.; Sebola, A.N.; Kock, H.d.; Mabelebele, M. Meat Quality Parameters of Boschveld Indigenous Chickens as Influenced by Dietary Yellow Mealworm Meal. Foods 2021, 10, 3094. https://DOI.org/10.3390/foods10123094.2304-8158 (online)10.3390/foods10123094https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/86685The authors would like to acknowledge the University of Pretoria, Department of Zoology and Entomology for providing the mealworm samples for this study. Our appreciation to Emmanuel Nekhudzhiga from the Department of Consumer and Food Science for assisting with the breast meat colour analysis.An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of yellow mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) meal inclusion in diets of indigenous chickens. A total of 160 mixed-sex indigenous Boschveld chickens were randomly divided into four categories: control soybean meal (SBM) and yellow mealworm with percentage levels of 5, 10 and 15 (TM5, TM10 and TM15, respectively). Five replicate pens per treatment were used, with eight birds per pen/replicate. On day 60, two birds from each replicate were slaughtered and eviscerated. Meat quality parameters were measured out on raw carcass and cooked breast meat. The carcass weight, breast weight and gizzard weight of the control group was higher (p < 0.05) than the treatment group (TM15). The cooking loss was lower (p < 0.05) in the SBM control group but higher in the TM15 group. Colour characteristics of breast meat before cooking was lighter in the TM10 and TM15 group, ranged from 61.7 to 69.3 for L* and was significant (p < 0.05). The TM10 and TM15 groups showed a lighter colour than the SBM and TM5 groups. The breast meat pH taken after slaughter was different (p < 0.05) in TM5 and TM15, with the highest reading (pH 6.0) in the TM5 group. In conclusion, our experiment indicated that dietary Tenebrio molitor in growing Boschveld indigenous chickens’ diets could be considered a promising protein source for Boschveld indigenous chickens.en© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.Tenebrio molitorLocal chickenCarcass characteristicsBreast pHEdible insectsYellow mealworm larvaeBoschveld chickensArticle