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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 #357912
Research Project: Assessment and Improvement of Poultry Meat, Egg, and Feed Quality

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: Relationship between attributes of woody breast and white striping myopathies in commercially processed broiler breast meat

Author
item Bowker, Brian
item Zhuang, Hong
item Yoon, Seung-Chul
item TASONIERO, GIULIA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Lawrence, Kurt

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Poultry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/11/2019
Publication Date: 2/11/2019
Citation: Bowker, B.C., Zhuang, H., Yoon, S.C., Tasoniero, G., Lawrence, K.C. 2019. Relationship between attributes of woody breast and white striping myopathies in commercially processed broiler breast meat. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 28(2):490-496.

Interpretive Summary: The occurrence and degree of severity of the white striping (WS) and woody breast (WB) myopathies were found to be positively related in broiler breast meat. However, the strength of the relationship was only moderate and weakened as breast fillet weight increased. Data suggest that easily assessed visual traits such as WS, fillet shape, and hemorrhaging may not be accurate enough indicators of WB occurrence or degree of severity for the purposes of developing visually-based WB sorting criteria, as they could potentially lead to high rates of both false positive and false negative classifications.

Technical Abstract: The relationship between the incidence and severity of the woody breast (WB) and white striping (WS) myopathies were investigated in broiler breast fillets collected from commercial processing facilities. Approximately 94% of all WB fillets also exhibited WS. Of the fillets that did not exhibit WB, 54% exhibited WS. Of the fillets that exhibited severe WB, 28% had severe WS, 51% had moderate WS, and 21% had mild or no WS. Approximately 83% of all WS fillets also exhibited WB. Of the fillets that did not exhibit WS, 26% exhibited WB. Of the fillets that exhibited severe WS, 41% had severe WB, 46% had moderate WB, and 13% had mild or no WB. The strength of the relationship between WS and WB scores decreased as average fillet weight increased. In addition to overall WB and WS scores, a subset of the fillets were also evaluated for specific attributes of muscle hardness, muscle rigidity, muscle out-bulging shape, and the occurrence of petechial hemorrhages on the skin-side surface of the fillets. Muscle hardness, rigidity, and out-bulging shape were highly correlated to WB scores but their relationships with WS were much weaker. There was a statistically positive, but relatively weak, correlation between the occurrence of petechial hemorrhages and the WB and WS myopathies. With regards to developing WB sorting criteria and methodologies, tactile traits have a greater potential for accurately indicating the presence and severity of the WB myopathy in broiler breast meat than more visually assessed traits such as WS.