Table 4.

Effects of different levels of capsaicin on meat quality of breast muscle in broilers at 42 d.

Item	Control	Dietary capsaicin level (mg/kg)			SEM	P -value
		2	4	6		ANOVA	Linear	Quadratic
pH45min	6.52ab	6.73a	6.25b	6.32b	0.048	<0.001	0.002	0.365
pH24h	5.98a	5.91ab	5.88bc	5.82c	0.016	0.001	<0.001	0.966
L*	48.16	47.48	46.65	48.46	0.447	0.506	0.985	0.177
a*	3.51	3.34	3.40	3.37	0.134	0.973	0.768	0.803
b*	9.60	10.68	9.68	9.77	0.244	0.374	0.823	0.316
Drip loss at 24 h (%)	1.88	1.83	1.74	2.18	0.061	0.057	0.122	0.039
Drip loss at 48 h (%)	3.07a	3.12a	2.46b	2.70ab	0.088	0.016	0.016	0.561
Cooking loss (%)	26.00	24.35	27.63	29.78	0.771	0.071	0.031	0.194
Shearing force (N)	27.25	30.53	27.88	23.48	1.185	0.213	0.186	0.107

Values are presented as the mean with SEM (n = 8). Means with unlike superscript letters in the same row are significantly different (P < 0.05). pH_45min: pH value at 45 min; pH_24h: pH value at 24 h.

L^*, lightness;

a^*, redness;

b^*, yellowness.