Abstract

Fast-growing  big  broilers  breast  muscle  often  exhibits  wooden  breast  and  white  striping  myopathies  causing  meat  quality  issues  such  as  high  cook  loss,  tough  texture,  and  lower  marinade retention. Toughness of the meat and subsequent meat quality issues can also be due  to  unresolved  rigor  mortis  and  slow  rate  of  post-mortem  proteolysis.  The  objective  of this study was to investigate the effects of extended deboning times and storage on the quality of broiler breast meat. Broiler breast fillets (total n=810) obtained from a local poultry processor included freshly deboned (2-3h post slaughter) wooden and normal breast butterfly fillets from broilers>8 lbs, breast fillets from medium sized birds (6-8lbs) as well as fillets deboned at extended post-slaughter times (16, 20 and 24h). Carcasses deboned at extended times (n=90/treatment) were stored at 4 ?C. The left-side of the butterfly breast fillet was analyzed for color and cook loss immediately after deboning. Texture of cooked fillets was measured using the Blunt Meullenet-Owens Razor Shear (B-MORS) method. Statistical differences between the freshly deboned, extended deboned and stored fillets were  determined  using  ANOVA  with  Tukey’s  HSD  at  P<0.05.  Data  indicated  that  the  wooden breast fillets had a higher cook loss than normal fillets and the ones from medium sized broilers. Texture (peak force and shear energy) of the fillets from all the extended debone times was lower compared to the freshly deboned (2-3h post-slaughter) breast fillets indicating an increase in tenderness due to proteolysis. Results from the study can be used by  the  poultry  companies  to  reduce  the  breast  meat  texture  issues  from  fast-growing  big  broilers.

Keywords

deboning times, meat quality, broilers, texture, cook loss, weights, proteolytic, enzymes, proteolysis, toughness, shortening, tenderization, accelerates, temperature, quickens