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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 #346234
Research Project: Assessment and Improvement of Poultry Meat, Egg, and Feed Quality

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: Descriptive sensory analysis of marinated and non-marinated woody breast fillet portions

Author
item MAXWELL, ALEX - University Of Georgia
item Bowker, Brian
item Zhuang, Hong
item CHATTERJEE, DEBOLINA - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item ADHIKARI, KOUSHIK - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/23/2018
Publication Date: 7/11/2018
Citation: Maxwell, A., Bowker, B.C., Zhuang, H., Chatterjee, D., Adhikari, K. 2018. Descriptive sensory analysis of marinated and non-marinated woody breast fillet portions. Poultry Science. 97:2971-2978.

Interpretive Summary: The woody breast (WB) myopathy in chicken breast muscles alters the sensory perception of cooked meat texture. It was demonstrated that the WB effects on sensory attributes are not uniform throughout the breast muscle and that WB-related differences in cooked meat texture are lessened but not eliminated by marination.

Technical Abstract: The woody breast (WB) myopathy influences muscle composition and texture characteristics in broiler breast meat. It is unknown if marination lessens the negative influence of WB on meat quality or if WB effects are uniform throughout the Pectoralis major. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of marination on sensory attributes and instrumental shear force measurements of the ventral (skin-side) and dorsal (bone-side) portions of normal (no WB) and severe WB meat. Normal (no WB) and severe WB butterfly fillets were selected from the deboning line of a commercial processing plant. Each fillet was portioned into ventral and dorsal halves. Portions from one side of each butterfly were used as non-marinated controls, and portions from the other side were vacuum-tumble marinated (16 rpm, -0.6 atm, 4°C, 20 min) with 20% (wt/wt) marinade to meat ratio. Marinade was formulated to target a final concentration of 0.75% (w/v) salt and 0.45% (w/v) sodium tripolyphosphate in the product. Descriptive sensory analysis (9 trained panelists) was conducted to analyze visual, texture, and flavor attributes (0-15 point scale) of breast portions along with Warner-Bratzler shear force. A significant interaction effect between WB and marination was not observed for the sensory attributes. Greater springiness, cohesiveness, hardness, fibrousness, and chewiness scores were observed in WB samples (P < 0.001). Marination decreased cohesiveness, hardness, and chewiness (P < 0.05) and increased juiciness (P = 0.002) in breast portions. The effects of WB on sensory texture attributes were more apparent in the ventral portions of the breast fillets. Flavor attributes (salty and brothy) increased (P < 0.001) with marination. In non-marinated samples, shear force was similar between normal and WB samples. In marinated samples, however, shear force was greater (P < 0.001) in WB samples. Data suggest that the WB effect on meat quality is not uniform throughout the Pectoralis major and that WB-related differences in cooked meat texture are lessened but not eliminated by vacuum-tumbling marination.