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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #323481
Research Project: Assessment and Improvement of Poultry Meat, Egg, and Feed Quality

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: Comparison of objective texture measurements in raw and cooked wooden breast meat.

Author
item Bowker, Brian
item Zhuang, Hong
item Chatterjee, Debolina
item Wiener, Jordan

Submitted to: International Poultry Scientific Forum
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/13/2015
Publication Date: 1/25/2016
Citation: Bowker, B.C., Zhuang, H., Chatterjee, D., Wiener, J.B. 2016. Comparison of objective texture measurements in raw and cooked wooden breast meat.. International Poultry Scientific Forum. volume 95(E-Suppl. 1), page 200-201.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Broiler breast meat exhibiting the wooden breast condition is characterized as having an abnormally hard or rigid texture. The efficacy of using objective texture measurements to characterize the texture attributes of breast meat exhibiting this condition before and after cooking are not well understood. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of the wooden breast condition on texture measurements of broiler breast fillets both before and after cooking. Broiler breast fillets deboned at 3 h postmortem were collected from a commercial processing plant and categorized based on the degree of the wooden breast condition (normal, moderate, or severe). The texture attributes of each fillet were measured using either the blunt blade (BMORS) or sharpened blade (MORS) versions of the Meullenet-Owens razor shear test. Both peak shear force (N) and total shear energy (N × mm) were measured. Each fillet was sheared in 7-8 locations both before and after cooking to an endpoint temperature of 78°C. In raw fillets, both BMORS and MORS values increased with the severity of the wooden breast condition (P < 0.01). After cooking, however, BMORS values were similar between wooden breast categories, but MORS values were greater (P < 0.001) in moderate and severe wooden breast samples compared to normal fillets. For all fillets, regardless of the wooden breast score, MORS values were greater (P < 0.0001) following cooking compared to pre-cooked (raw) measurements. With BMORS measurements, however, cooking increased the shear values in normal samples but decreased the shear values in severe wooden breast fillets. For both the BMORS and MORS measurements, the peak shear force and total shear energy values followed similar trends with regards to the effects of cooking and the wooden breast condition. Results from this study demonstrate that the wooden breast condition adversely influences meat texture in the raw fillets, but suggest that the ability to objectively detect texture differences in cooked breast meat is strongly dependent upon the technique used.