Can we taste extensiveness? Linking production concepts of extensification factors to the eating quality and consumer liking of chicken breast meat

Broiler production in Europe is exploring extensification factors such as slower-growing genotypes, dietary fibre supplementation, increased space allowance and environmental enrichment. While these strategies aim to balance productivity with environmental sustainability and animal welfare, how their combined system-level profiles influence eating quality and consumer liking remains unclear. This study evaluated chicken breast fillets from eight production concepts, each representing a distinct system-level combination of genetics, diet, space allowance and enrichment across higher-welfare non-organic and organic systems. Production concepts were implemented in the Netherlands and Germany as part of a European research consortium specializing in higher-welfare and organic broiler production systems. Breast fillets were characterized using physicochemical quality measurements and trained descriptive sensory profiling. In addition, a subset of concepts with distinct sensory profiles was evaluated in a consumer test. The descriptive sensory profiling as well as the consumer test was conducted in Denmark by the designated consortium partner due to their specific competencies. Across concepts, when moisture content was similar, lean, protein-dense breast meat with higher firmness was perceived as less juicy when roasted, despite exhibiting high water-holding capacity. This suggests a dual contribution of fat content and muscle structural properties to oral juiciness. Concepts that combined lower first-bite hardness with higher sensory tenderness and juiciness also achieved higher consumer liking of juiciness, underscoring the central role of the tenderness-juiciness axis in consumer acceptance. Colour differences in breast fillets were detected instrumentally and by trained panellists, but these contrasts were not reflected in consumer appearance liking, indicating that visual cues in cooked meat were less influential than juiciness. Overall, genotype emerged as the principal driver of eating quality. System-level profiles of extensification factors shaped product characteristics, but consumer liking differences were modest and mainly linked to juiciness.