Effects of extended deboning time on the breast meat quality of fast-growing big broilers

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.