Anyone who has ever gone to the supermarket to buy some chicken You may have noticed that there are two different types of chicken on sale, one more yellow and one white or roséBut what does the difference depend on? coloring? The answer is not at all obvious: it depends on the breed of the chicken, its health, its genetics but above all its diet!
A chicken fed wheat will be pinker, while one fed corn it will be more yellow.
Specifically, the yellow color of the chicken is determined by the carotenoidsred-orange plant pigments that give color to carrots, but also to many other orange vegetables. Carotenoids are found in some plants and help molecules Of chlorophyll to absorb light in photosynthesis.
Chickens get these carotenoids from feed food. Once ingested, these pigments are transported to the intestine. When carotenoids are absorbed they are transported by the lipoproteins through the bloodstream to the tissues.
Here the differences between chicken species, nutritional and health status of the chicken, genetic background and type of carotenoids consumed influence how and how many carotenoids will be absorbed. The consequence is precisely the skin color change of the chicken.
An example of a food that contains carotenoids is corn. For this reason, if chickens are fed a feed mainly based on corn they become more yellow, while if they are fed with wheat or corn they have a more pink appearance.
The color of the chicken does not imply a difference in the quality of the meat but in the taste Yes. White chicken is softer and generally has a milder flavor; yellow chicken has a more intense flavor and firmer texture.
But be careful. The yellow chicken can be confused with the free range chickenwhich is fed corn or wheat but is also a free-range chicken. Since this chicken spends its days scavenging, that is, walking in search of food, it will feed on more varied food and for this reason its meat will be richer in nutrients, firmer and with a more intense flavor.
Fun fact. Chickens aren’t the only animals that change color depending on what they eat. Diet also affects the color of other animals. Carotenoids are also responsible for the pink color of flamingos!
