Effect of electrical stimulation on qualitative characteristics of aged chicken carcasses: A comprehensive review

Authors: AL-HILPHY, ASAAD - Agriculture College Basrah University; AL-ASADI, MAJID - Agriculture College Basrah University; AL-HMEDAWY, NOORA - Agriculture College Basrah University; Zhuang, Hong

Submitted to: Basrah Journal of Agricultural Science
Publication Type: Literature Review
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/2020
Publication Date: 6/27/2020
Citation: Al-Hilphy, A.R., Al-Asadi, M.H., Al-Hmedawy, N.K., Zhuang, H. 2020. Effect of electrical stimulation on qualitative characteristics of aged chicken carcasses: A comprehensive review. Basrah Journal of Agricultural Science. https://doi.org/10.37077/25200860.2020.33.1.11.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37077/25200860.2020.33.1.11

Interpretive Summary: There are about 85 millions of aged chickens marketed worldwide annually. The aged chicken in market include laying hens, the birds from the foundation flocks, and parent flocks that are used in the processes of breeding. Meat from these aged chickens shows greater toughness, which directly impacts meat palatability to the consumer and limits the utilization of aged chicken meat. Electrical stimulation is the process of pulsing an electrical potential across an animal’s body to induce electrical current, leading to physical and biochemical changes in the meat. Therefore, electrical stimulation has been used commercially to reduce requirement for postmortem aging and tenderize meat. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the electrical stimulation technology and its potential effects on chicken meat quality. The content summarizes the latest development in research and application of electrical stimulation in chicken meat processing and provides essential information that may help industry evaluate and apply this technology for aged chicken meat products.

Technical Abstract: The aim of this review was to summarize the histological, physical, chemical and microbial aspects and ways to stop the fluctuation in meat quality in addition to enhance its sensory quality using electrical stimulation. The low-voltage electrical stimulation and high-voltage electrical stimulation were employed. Electrical stimulation improves quality of poultry meat by reducing shear, increasing Sarcomere length, and reducing the diameter of muscle fibers. Low-voltage electrical stimulation affects voltages (120 volts directly in the nervous system, while high voltages were more than enough) to remove the polarization of the cover and produce a dense physio-chemical response in the muscles that had a direct effect. Electrical stimulation and injection with salts of sodium chloride and calcium chloride in the carcasses of female goats improved the tenderness of the meat. It was found that electrical stimulation accelerated the development of rigor mortis. Although electrical stimulation reduces breast meat shear, there was limited information about the effects of electrical stimulation on the other quality attributes of poultry meat and the results vary with quality attribute and differ from experimental conditions High voltage (higher than 120 volts) electrical stimulation improved meat quality and decreased the pH. Low voltages (below 120 volts) are used to ensure the safety of workers and give the desired results when used in commercial applications.