Abstract
Purpose: Chicken (especially breast meat) is a popular food for health-conscious people due to its low fat and high protein content. In this study, we focused on ostrich meat (OM), which is attracting attention from the perspective of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and examined changes in blood amino acid composition after consumption, and compared it with blood composition after consuming chicken meat (CM).
Methods: The subjects were 9 healthy men and women (2 men, 7 women, 23.0 ± 1.2 years old, BMI 20.1 ± 2.2). The test foods were OM food and CM (breast meat) food with adjusted protein content (20 g). CM food was consumed for the first 7 days and after a 1-month rest period, the subjects started taking OM for the latter 7 days. Blood tests were then performed at 1 day and 7 days after intake, respectively.
Results: Seven days after ingesting the test food, the plasma amino acid composition showed a significant increase in taurine with OM intake, and a slight increase in citrulline and 3-methylhistidine with CM intake, while there was no difference in the total amino acid content. There was no difference in plasma aldehyde (3-deoxyglucosone, glyoxal, methylglyoxal) between the two groups, showing no difference in aldehyde trapping effect. Peripheral blood tests showed that the red blood cell count, hemoglobin content, and hematocrit value decreased by 3 to 5% when CM was ingested due to iron loss by blood sampling, whereas this was alleviated when OM, which has a high iron content, was ingested. No adverse events were observed during the study period.
Conclusion: Among high-protein, low-fat bird meats, ostrich meat is richer in taurine and iron than chicken breast, making it a useful food for health-conscious people.
