ARS | Publication request: Effect of deboning time and cold storage on water-holding capacity of chicken breast meat

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 20, 2007
Publication Date: January 21, 2008
Citation: Zhuang, H., Savage, E.M. 2008. Effect of deboning time and cold storage on water-holding capacity of chicken breast meat. International Poultry Scientific Forum, January 21-22, 2008.

Technical Abstract: Water-holding capacity (WHC) is a very important qualitative characteristic of meat and directly affects the yield of further processed meat and consumer acceptance of bagged pre-packaged fresh meat. Boneless skinless chicken breast meat for further processing and consumer usage is commonly deboned at various postmortem times and preserved by cold storage before use. The objective of our study was to investigate the effect of 2 different deboning times and cold storage on water-holding capacity of chicken breast meat. Broiler breast meat (pectoralis major) was removed from carcasses early post-mortem (2h) and later post-mortem (24h). Storage treatments of samples included: 0d; 1d at 3oC, 7d at 3oC (2h deboned meat only) and 6d at -20oC plus 1d at 3oC (frozen and thawed storage, 2h deboned meat only). Water-holding capacity was estimated by cooking loss, drip loss, filter paper press and a swelling/centrifugation method. Based on the measurements of the cooking loss and filter paper press, cold storage and deboning time did not affect WHC of the 2h samples; however, based on the measurements of the swelling/centrifugation method, cold storage and deboning time significantly enhanced WHC of the 2h samples. Only the frozen and thawed storage treatment resulted in significantly increased drip loss of the 2h samples. These results suggest that the effect of cold storage on WHC of chicken breast meat depended on the methods used for WHC estimation. There is a need to develop a standard method for WHC estimation for chicken breast meat. Key Words: Chicken breast, Storage, Water-holding capacity, Drip loss, Cook loss Presentation Method: Poster Section Preferences: Processing/Products; Nutrition