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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #129358
Title: THE EFFECT OF AGE, DIETARY CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE, AND FEED WITHDRAWAL ON BROILER BREAST FILLET COLOR

Author
item SMITH, DOUGLAS
item LYON, CLYDE
item LYON, BRENDA

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/8/2002
Publication Date: 10/1/2002
Citation: Smith, D.P., Lyon, C.E., Lyon, B.G. 2002. The effect of age, dietary carbohydrate source, and feed withdrawal on broiler breast fillet color. Poultry Science. 81:1584-1588.

Interpretive Summary: Several factors that affect live animals have previously been reported to affect resulting meat color. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of age of the bird, diet, and feed withdrawal (as practiced in industry) on chicken breast meat color. Broilers were placed on three different diets (either corn, milo, or wheat-based) at 28 days of age, then several were processed each day, beginning at 42 days of age, over a two week period. Breast fillets were deboned from the carcass and lightness, redness, and yellowness of the fillets was determined. Bird age did not significantly affect any fillet color values. Fillets from the birds fed the wheat diet were significantly lighter than fillets from the corn or milo fed birds. The milo diet resulted in significantly redder fillets than either the corn or wheat diets. The corn diet produced significantly more yellow fillets than the milo or wheat diets. Feed withdrawal significantly increased fillet lightness, decreased redness, and increased yellowness, regardless of the diet. Raw broiler breast fillet color is significantly affected by both diet and feed withdrawal, but not by the age of the bird.

Technical Abstract: An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of bird age, diet (feeds formulated with either 69.5% corn, 69.7% milo, or 73.6% wheat), and feed withdrawal times (0 or 8 hours) on color (CIE L*, lightness; a*, redness; and b*, yellowness) of raw broiler breast fillets. Broilers were placed on diets at 28 d of age. Replicate groups of 24 birds (eight each from different diet, and four each either full fed or feed withdrawn) were processed (slaughtered and eviscerated under simulated commercial conditions) each day from 42-45 and 49-52 d of age (n=192). Carcasses were chilled and deboned 4 h postmortem, and triplicate color measurements taken from the medial (bone) side of the fillet. Bird age did not significantly affect fillet color values (P<0.05). Fillets from the birds fed the wheat diet were significantly lighter than fillets from the corn or milo fed birds (48.9 vs. 46.9 and 46.7, respectively). The milo diet resulted in significantly redder fillets than corn or wheat (3.9 vs. 3.5 and 3.3, respectively). The corn diet produced significantly more yellow fillets than milo or wheat (4.8 vs. 2.4 and 2.6, respectively). Feed withdrawal significantly increased fillet lightness from an average of 46.1 to 48.9, decreased redness from 4.1 to 3.1, and increased yellowness from 2.8 to 3.7. Raw broiler breast fillet color is significantly affected by both diet and feed withdrawal, but not by age.