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Title: EFFECTS OF CARCASS STIMULATION, DEBONING TIME AND MARINATION ON YIELD, COLOR AND TEXTURE OF BROILER BREAST MEAT

Author
item Lyon, Clyde
item Lyon, Brenda
item Dickens, James

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Poultry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: There continues to be consumer complaints about broiler breast meat toughness. Post-chill deboning time has been shown to be the single most significant factor in the ultimate texture of intact breast meat. However, this 6 to 12 hour aging time is costly in refrigerated space, equipment, & labor. Two treatments, electric stimulation of carcasses during bleeding & marination of muscles in salt/phosphate solutions, are known to alter the biochemistry of post-mortem muscle & texture of cooked broiler breast meat. Combinations of these two treatments were evaluated under commercial conditions to determine their effects on raw & cooked breast weight, cooked yield, meat color & texture. Both electrical stimulation during bleeding & marination after deboning had significant effects on the variables evaluated. Electrical stimulation resulted in significantly lower raw & cooked weights & lower cooked yield. Marination resulted in significantly higher weights & yield. Both treatments resulted in more tender meat compared to non-stimulated & non-marinated controls. The combination of stimulation & marination resulted in tender cooked breast meat without any additional aging beyond 1 hour chilling.

Technical Abstract: Toughness of cooked broiler breast meat continues to be a major problem for processors & further-processors. Post-chill deboning time has been shown to be the single most significant factor in the ultimate texture of intact breast meat. However, this 6 to 12 hour aging time is costly in terms of refrigerated space, equipment, & labor. Two treatments, electric stimulation of carcasses during bleeding & marination of muscles in salt/phosphate solutions, are known to alter the biochemistry of the post-mortem muscle & the texture of cooked broiler breast meat. Combinations of these two treatments were evaluated under commercial conditions to determine their effects on raw & cooked breast weight, cooked yield, meat color & texture. Both electrical stimulation during bleeding & marination after deboning had significant effects on the variables evaluated. Electrical stimulation of the carcass during bleeding resulted in significantly lower raw & cooked weights & lower cooked yield compared to nonstimulated carcasses. Marination resulted in significantly higher weights & yield. Both treatments resulted in lower shear values compared to non-stimulated & non-marinated controls (more tender meat). The lowest shear values were noted for the combination of stimulation followed by marination. Using the combination of stimulation & marination resulted in tender cooked breast meat without any additional aging beyond 1 hour chilling.