June 17/Life Science Weekly -- "Two muscles, breast and thigh, were excised from three pigeon meat-type breeds (Europigeon, Wroclawski, King) and were analyzed for proximate analysis, cholesterol content, and fatty acid (FA) profile. Among the breeds considered, the lowest protein content of breast muscle was found in Kings (21.73%), whereas the highest fat (7.07%) and ash (1.11%) content of breast muscle (P <=0.01) was located in Wroclawski pigeons," scientists in Olsztyn, Poland, report.
"The cholesterol content of both muscles was lowest in Europigeon (23.6 to 25.2mg/100g of tissue) as compared with the King and Wroclawski pigeons (30.2-44.4mg/100g of tissue). The total content of polyunsaturated FA was lower in thigh than in breast muscles (by 4.5-12%, depending on the breed). As far as FA composition is concerned, pigeon meat resembles meat types of poultry species," wrote J.F. Pomianowski and colleagues.