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Title: ASSESSMENT OF THREE DEVICES USED IN SHEAR TESTS OF COOKED BREAST MEAT

Author
item LYON, BRENDA
item LYON, CLYDE

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Methods to process poultry in economical ways must also be evaluated for end-quality of the product. Shear tests that record the force to cut through fibers may be obtained from different instruments. However, the results are not always the same; nor are the results necessarily interchangeable. This study compared three similar devices for providing shear force values. All three devices found sample differences but to varying degrees. Warner-Bratzler devices that incorporated compression/extrusion with shear varied the least. The 45 deg wedge blade varied the most. It is important for researchers and quality control personnel to include sensory testing along with instrumental testing of texture.

Technical Abstract: Shear tests, which measure force to cut fibers of cooked samples, are the simplest and most common tests used to document cooked meat texture. However, information obtained from shearing devices that perform in a similar way may not be interchangeable. In this study, three shearing devices were compared. Eight treatments were imposed on broiler breasts processed under commercial conditions to represent broad ranges of texture Treatments included electrical stimulation (S), non-stimulation (NS) of carcasses; post-chill deboning at 2 or 6 h; and marination(M), non-marination(NM). Shear force values of cooked breasts were obtained from (1)benchtop Warner-Bratzler (BT-WB); (2)Warner-Bratzler blade attachment (TA-WB); and (3)a 45 deg chisel-end blade attachment (TA-WD). The TA-WB and TA-WD were attached to Model TA.XT2 texture analyzer. For each device, shear value differences were significant (P<.05) for deboning time. Marination effects were significant (P<.05) for BT-WB and TA-WB. Stimulation x debone interactions were significant (P<.05) for BT-WB and TA-WD. TA-WD values varied the most over all treatments (SD=5.52; SE=0.65. BT-WB and TA-WB shear value variations were similar (SD=3.25, 2.97 respectively; SE=0.38, 0.35).