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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 #329972
Research Project: Assessment and Improvement of Poultry Meat, Egg, and Feed Quality

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: WHITE STRIPING AND WOODEN BREAST DEFECTS INFLUENCE MEAT QUALITY AND MUSCLE PROTEIN CHARACTERISTICS IN BROILER BREAST MEAT

Author
item Bowker, Brian
item Zhuang, Hong
item Barton, Elizabeth
item SANCHEZ, JOSE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: International Congress of Meat Science and Technology Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/29/2016
Publication Date: 8/14/2016
Citation: Bowker, B.C., Zhuang, H., Barton, E.L., Sanchez, J. 2016. WHITE STRIPING AND WOODEN BREAST DEFECTS INFLUENCE MEAT QUALITY AND MUSCLE PROTEIN CHARACTERISTICS IN BROILER BREAST MEAT. International Congress of Meat Science and Technology Proceedings. Bangkok, Thailand. August 14-19,2016. [Short paper ID P07-27].

Interpretive Summary: With the fast growth rates of modern broilers and an increase in the proportion of birds raised to heavier weights for the cut-up and further processing markets, myopathies and meat quality abnormalities associated with larger birds are becoming a major concern for the poultry industry. In recent years, meat quality defects known as white striping (WS) and wooden breast (WB) have been reported. This study demonstrates that broiler breast meat with the WB and WS conditions exhibit inferior WHC and meat texture attributes. The presence of the WB condition, however, negatively influences meat quality to a greater degree than WS alone. Even moderate degrees of WB and WS conditions are adequate to influence muscle protein characteristics and meat quality attributes.

Technical Abstract: The objective was to determine the effects of the wooden breast (WB) and white striping (WS) myopathies on meat quality and protein characteristics of broiler breast meat. Breast fillets (Pectoralis major) from a commercial processing plant were segregated into four groups: normal (neither WS nor WB), moderate (moderate for WS and WB), severe (severe for WS and WB), and WS (severe WS, no WB). Despite having greater pHu, WS and WB fillets exhibited decreased salt-induced water uptake and increased cook loss compared to normal samples. Peak shear force and shear energy values on raw samples were greatest for the severe fillets, least for the normal, and intermediate for moderate and WS fillets. Average sarcomere length was greater in fillets exhibiting the WS and WB conditions. Compared to normal fillets, sarcoplasmic protein solubility was diminished in WS and WB fillets, but myofibrillar protein solubility was not different between the groups. Increased desmin degradation was observed in WS and WB fillets. Data demonstrate that the WB condition has a more detrimental impact on meat quality than the WS condition alone, but that both myopathies cause changes in muscle protein characteristics related to meat quality attributes.