To investigate the differences in the quality characteristics between commercial Korean native chicken (KNC) and broiler
(CB), nutritive and quality parameters of the two chicken species were determined. The KNC thigh muscle had a lower con-tent of crude fat and higher crude ash than the CB thigh. In regards to the fatty acid composition, KNC breast muscle had a
higher content of arachidonic acid (C20:4) than CB. The level of inosine was higher in the CB thigh muscle than KNC but
there was little difference in other nucleotide compounds. The KNC breast had higher amounts of glycine, alanine, and pro-line than CB, which are closely related to high quality meat flavor. The sensory acceptance was not significantly different
between the breast and thigh of KNC and CB. However, KNC had higher cohesiveness, chewiness and gumminess than CB,
which are indicative of a uniquetexture property. Based on these results, commercial KNC may have superior nutritional
quality, taste, and unique texture whencompared with CB.Thus, the consumer preference for KNC may be partially
explained by these distinctive quality characteristics.