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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 #361838
Research Project: Assessment and Improvement of Poultry Meat, Egg, and Feed Quality

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: Texture analysis of wooden breast meat treated with exogenous proteases

Author
item TASONIERO, GIULIA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item KHAING, SONG - University Of Georgia
item Zhuang, Hong
item Bowker, Brian

Submitted to: European Symposium on Quality of Poultry Meat
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/8/2019
Publication Date: 6/23/2019
Citation: Tasoniero, G., Khaing, S., Zhuang, H., Bowker, B.C. 2019. Texture analysis of wooden breast meat treated with exogenous proteases. European Symposium on Quality of Poultry Meat. Proceedings of the XXIV European Symposium on the Quality of Poultry Meat. (abstract 0178).

Interpretive Summary: n/a

Technical Abstract: The effectiveness of different types of exogenous protease marinade solutions in tenderizing severe Wooden Breast (WB) fillets was investigated. For this study, 40 normal (NORM) and 40 WB fillets were allocated in 5 experimental groups (16 breasts each, 8 NORM + 8 WB): A (non-injected control), B (H2O-injected), C (H2O + collagenase injected), D (H2O + bromelin/papain injected) and E (H2O + collagenase + bromelin/papain injected). Breasts were injected at 24 h p.m. with 20% wt/wt of marinade solution and vacuum tumbled for 20 min at 4 °C (-0.6 atm, 16 rpm). Solutions were prepared with the maximum enzyme levels recommended by the manufacturer (collagenase 0.025% of meat wt bromelin/papain protease 0.0044% of meat wt). At 24 h p.m., raw A fillets were subjected to a single 30% compression test (1 measurement/fillet on the cranial end). At 72 h p.m. all fillets were oven cooked (76 °C at core) and subjected to shear force assessment through B-MORS test (6 measurements/fillet on the cranial end). Muscle condition and treatment (groups A – E) effects were evaluated. Raw compression tests on noninjected fillets indicated that WB samples were harder than the NORM ones (NORM = 7.75 N vs WB = 17.1 N; P < 0.05), thereby objectively confirming the presence of WB and normal traits in the fillets used. Discrepancies between muscle conditions were reflected in the cooked fillets, as demonstrated by the shear values(NORM = 12.6 N vs WB = 21.7 N; P < 0.05). With regards to the shear force of the injected fillets (groups B – E) after cooking, WB meat required a higher shear force than NORM meat regardless of the type of marinade solution (NORM mean = 10.1 N vs WB mean = 24.7 N; P < 0.05). Considering the treatment effect, the type of marinade solution did not significantly impact cooked meat shear force in either NORM or WB fillets. However, the data suggested a decreasing trend (P < 0.1) for WB fillets of the E group (20.1 ± 1.9 N) compared to WB breasts belonging to the B group (27.7 ± 2.1 N). Fillets marinated with the proteases exhibited a mushy,unappealing appearance once cooked. From this study, it emerged that the use of marinade solutions containing proteolytic enzymes was not an effective strategy to resolve texture issues in WB intact muscle products.