Applied research note: Impact of broiler carcass orientation after slaughter on breast meat quality when evaluating delayed processing

Abstract

The live transportation and holding of broilers prior to processing may have the potential to cause issues with meat quality. In prior experiments simulating alternative processing procedures, broilers were slaughtered on-farm and bled carcasses were transported to the plant to continue processing. These carcasses exhibited reddish discoloration on the cranial end of the raw breast fillets. Based on these observations, the current experiment tested if holding carcasses by their shanks caused discoloration in the cranial end of the fillets. The objective of this trial was to determine whether carcass orientation (on back, hanging by neck, hanging by shanks) alters breast meat color. At d43, 120 Cobb-500 males were placed into 4 treatments: control (no delay), 4 h delay + held by shanks (4Shanks), 4 h delay + held by neck (4Neck), or 4 h delay + held on back (4Back). All broilers were electrically stunned and bled-out. The control group was immediately hard-scalded and picked, while the delayed processing treatments were all held for 4 h before scalding/picking. Breast fillets were hot-deboned and chilled overnight. All fillets were assessed for petechial hemorrhaging and discoloration (cranial, caudal, and lateral), as well as additional meat quality measurements. Compared to controls, hemorrhaging and discoloration scores were greater for 4Shanks (cranial) (p = 0.0134 and p < 0.0001, respectively), 4Neck (caudal), and 4Back (lateral) (all p < 0.0001). Discoloration scores were supported by a* values of raw fillets. These data suggest that the location of discoloration in the breast fillets was influenced by the carcass holding orientation prior to scalding/picking.