## 1 Introduction  
Consumer preferences for meat products are highly determined by a set of factors, including nutritional content, mouthfeel sensation, and safety guarantee for continuous consumption [1]. Among the available options, chicken meat is highly favored because of its high protein level, low saturated fat and cholesterol content, and relatively affordable cost. This has resulted in a steady increase in the demand for chicken meat. In Korea, the total domestic consumption of chicken meat reached 1.06 million metric tons in 2021 [2], of which commercial broiler (CB) chicken, Korean native chicken (KNC), and spent hen chicken made up the major proportions [3]. In 2012, the Korean government, through the Golden Seed Project, established a program to develop and commercialize the sustainable production of KNC to conserve highly valuable domestic animal sources and maintain genetic heterozygosity to avoid widespread diseases [4]. Supported by steadily increasing domestic needs, which encompassed more than 10% of the total consumption by 2019 [3], the provision of a supply of KNC has huge potential as primary stream revenue. To date, among the highly bred KNC breeds, Hanhyup No. 3 (HH3), which is generated via cross-mating between KNC and economically supreme breeds, accounted for 80% of the market share of KNC in Korea and is classified as a premium chicken breed with a 150% higher price than CB [5]. Hence, the Woorimatdag No. 1 (WRMD 1) breed was developed to increase the taste quality and affordability of KNC. Studies have shown that this breed has notably higher taste-active compounds than CB, resulting in more intense taste profiles [6; 7]. In addition, the contents of bioactive compounds, namely anserine, betaine, carnosine, carnitine, and creatine, are substantially higher in WRMD 1 than in CB, making the meat taste unique and preferred by Korean consumers [6]. Despite its advantageous characteristics, the low growth performance of WRMD 1 makes it difficult for its production to meet market demand. Therefore, the Woorimatdag No. 2 (WRMD 2) breed was developed as a commercially available KNC with increased growth performance and meat quality compared to WRMD 1 [5; 8]. This breed is a result of cross-mating between Brown KNC males and Rhode Island Red females. To date, in-depth studies characterizing the physicochemical traits and organoleptic compounds of WRMD 1 and 2 are scarce. In the poultry industry, two classifications of deboned meat are widely recognized: fresh meat, which is obtained by slaughtering and deboning a chicken in the same slaughterhouse, and Frozen-Thawed meat, which undergoes freezing and thawing following slaughter and deboning in the same slaughterhouse [9]. Although freezing is an accepted method for preserving the quality of meat proteins, frozen products are still of lower quality than fresh products [10; 11]. Moreover, the thawing process triggers the release of proteases, lipases, and lysozomes from damaged cells, which consequently affects biochemical homeostasis [12]. Furthermore, the formation of ice crystals within meat largely affects the sensitive ultrastructure of proteins, and thawing causes the ice crystals to melt, thereby transferring the intracellular water to the extracellular area of meat, leading to excessive moisture loss, decreased texture profile, and protein denaturation and oxidations [11]. Frozen-thawed CB chicken thigh was reported to exhibit lower meat quality and higher total aerobic bacterial counts than its fresh counterpart, resulting in a notably lower overall organoleptic acceptability [9]. However, short-term frozen storage was reported to intensify the flavor profiles of yellow-featureed female chicken meat upon processing [13].