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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 #433069
Research Project: Quality Characteristics and Sensor Development for Poultry and Other Agricultural Commodities

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: Technological and nutritional advances in investigating and improving water holding capacity of chicken breast meat

Author
item CHOI, JANGHAN - Texas Tech University
item Kong, Byungwhi
item Bowker, Brian

Submitted to: Meat and Muscle Biology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2026
Publication Date: 4/16/2026
Citation: Choi, J., Kong, B.C., Bowker, B.C. 2026. Technological and nutritional advances in investigating and improving water holding capacity of chicken breast meat. Meat and Muscle Biology. Volume 10. https://doi.org/10.22175/mmb.22820.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22175/mmb.22820

Interpretive Summary: This review describes how advanced tools like nuclear magnetic resonance, magnetic resonance imaging, and omics-based approaches can provide deeper insights into understanding factors that control water-holding capacity in poultry meat and further discusses potential nutritional strategies for modulating these identified critical factors.

Technical Abstract: Despite significant advancements in poultry production, several challenges remain with water holding capacity (WHC) being one of the most critical issues. WHC directly impacts the sensory and functional quality of meat, affecting texture, juiciness, yield, and consumer acceptance. This review aims to: 1) summarize the integration of magnetic resonance techniques including time domain nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and omics approaches in advancing the understanding of WHC in chicken breast muscle, and 2) discuss key factors affecting WHC and nutritional strategies for modulating WHC. Magnetic resonance-based techniques, such as NMR and MRI, offer detailed insights into the distribution and mobility of intramyofibrillar and extramyofibrillar water, providing a more comprehensive understanding of water retention compared to conventional WHC methods. Omics approaches identify intrinsic (preharvest) factors including genes, proteins, metabolites, and pathways directly related to WHC. Both preharvest and postharvest factors, including postmortem pH decline, muscle oxidation, and muscle integrity, play significant roles in influencing WHC. Nutritional strategies aimed to modulate these factors, such as the supplementation of creatine, amino acids, and phytochemicals, show promise in improving WHC. Further research is needed to fully explore and optimize these approaches to improve WHC in broiler breast meat for the poultry industry.