Water properties and marinade uptake in broiler pectoralis major with the woody breast condition

Authors: ZHANG, JIAN - Beijing Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; Bowker, Brian; YANG, YI - Beijing Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; PANG, BIN - Qingdao Agricultural University; YU, XIANG - Hubei University; TASONIERO, GIULIA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE); Zhuang, Hong

Submitted to: Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2022
Publication Date: 5/17/2022
Citation: Zhang, J., Bowker, B.C., Yang, Y., Pang, B., Yu, X., Tasoniero, G., Zhuang, H. 2022. Water properties and marinade uptake in broiler pectoralis major with the woody breast condition. Food Chemistry. Volume 391:133230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.133230.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.133230

Interpretive Summary: The woody breast (WB) condition is a muscle abnormality in broiler breast meat that costs the poultry industry millions of dollars annually due to its negative impact on meat quality. Research has shown that the WB condition directly affects both the texture and water-holding capacity (WHC) of breast fillets. Marination with a salt-phosphate solution is widely used in the meat industry to improve poultry meat quality. Unfortunately, the WB condition has been found to negatively influence meat marination performance; however, the reason for this is not understood. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) relaxometry is a promising technology for investigating water properties in meat. The aim of the present study was to use LF-NMR to provide insight into the mechanisms by which the WB condition reduces marination performance in broiler breast meat. Samples were treated with marinade ingredients water, NaCl, and phosphate individually and in combination. Data showed that the WB condition reduced marinade update by regardless of marinade composition. The WB condition did not alter the relationships between the treatments of marinade ingredients and the water mobility in the meat, however, it significantly affected water abundance in the different compartments of the meat. These results suggest that NaCl- or phosphate-induced water gain happens within the myofibrillar structure of the normal meat but only mainly in the extra-myofibrillar compartment in WB meat. It is hypothesized that the WB condition mainly prevents the myofibrils in the meat from taking up NaCl and/or phosphate solution during marination which negatively impacts marination performance and subsequently product yield and quality in broiler breast meat.

Technical Abstract: To provide insight into the mechanisms by which the woody breast (WB) condition reduces marinade uptake, water properties of normal (NOR) and WB meat were investigated using TD-NMR. Broiler pectoralis major samples were marinated with either deionized water, 0.625% sodium tripolyphosphate, 5% NaCl, or 5% NaCl + 0.625% sodium tripolyphosphate (SP). WB reduced meat marinade uptake but did not affect the relationships between marinade ingredients and water mobility. However, WB inhibited increases in extra-myofibrillar water mobility induced by marinade ingredients. Marination increased intra-myofibrillar water (Amp21) regardless of marinade ingredients or muscle condition; however, WB resulted in reduced Amp21 compared with NOR. Additionally, the NaCl- or phosphate-induced extra-myofibrillar water (Amp22) gain in WB was greater than that in NOR. Our data suggest both changes in both Amp21 and Amp22 are related to the difference in marinade uptake between NOR and WB meat marinated with NaCl-phosphate marinade.