Partial replacement of soybean with alternative protein sources: Effects on meat quality, sensory attributes, and fatty acids and amino acids content of breast meat of a local chicken strain.

The environmental sustainability of soybean cultivation has been questioned as it has been linked to deforestation, eutrophication, pesticide use, and carbon dioxide footprint. Agri-industrial byproducts and black soldier fly (BSF) larvae meal are promising alternative protein sources that can be used to partly replace soybean in broiler diets. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of partial replacement of soybeans with agro-industrial by-products with or without the addition of BSF dried larvae meal on the meat quality, fatty acid and amino acid content, and sensory traits of breast meat of local chickens. A total of 252 one-day-old mixed-sex chicks from the Anadolu-T pure dam line were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 diets; a soybean-based Control diet, a diet in which soybean meal was partly replaced (SPR) with brewers' dried grain, sunflower seed meal, and wheat middlings and an SPR + BSF diet in which 5% of BSF dried larva meal was added to the SPR diet. All birds were slaughtered at a commercial slaughterhouse at 55 days and breast and drumstick muscles were sampled for meat quality analysis from 18 chickens/dietary treatments. No significant effects of diets were observed for the pH24 and lightness, redness, and yellowness of breast and leg meats. Thawing loss significantly decreased and cooking loss increased in the breast meat of chickens fed the SPR + BSF compared with those fed Control and SPR diets. Diets did not affect either texture profile or consumer sensory properties of breast meat. The chickens fed the SPR + BSF had the highest total saturated fatty acid and lower polyunsaturated fatty acid content in breast meat than those fed the Control and SPR diets. The essential and nonessential amino acid content of breast meat decreased by the SPR diet compared with the SPR + BSF diet. The chickens fed SPR + BSF diet had higher values of tasty, aromatic, and umami-related amino acids than those fed SPR and Control diets. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicated that agri-industrial byproducts with or without BSF larvae meal could be used to partially replace soybean meal in broiler diets without affecting technological meat quality traits. The addition of BSF larvae meal to the diet along with agri-industrial by-products improved the amino acid content of the breast meat of chickens but reduced polyunsaturated fatty acid levels.

Effect of early deboning and brine injection prior to chilling on the physicochemical and sensory properties of chicken breast meat.

1. In order to meet market demand for poultry, producers strive to ensure processing plants are more efficient. One of the ways of achieving better productivity is to remove meat from the carcase straight after slaughter. To diminish the negative consequences of this procedure, various processing techniques can be used, with brining being one of the most popular of these techniques.2. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical and sensory properties of chicken breast meat subjected to the procedure of early deboning and brine injection prior to chilling, as well as to verify the influence of brine on characteristics of the meat.3. To evaluate meat characteristics and verify the influence of brine injection on its quality, pH and water-holding capacity (WHC) were determined. Desirability of odour, taste, juiciness and tenderness to the consumer was evaluated. The intensity of odour and taste was assessed by a team of selected assessors in order to verify their influence on the consumer desirability of these features.4. The results showed that pH was lower, whereas WHC was more favourable in the case of brined meat. Moreover, sensory evaluations indicated that the desirability of taste and juiciness was significantly higher in the brined samples.5. Early deboning and brine injection prior to chilling of chicken breast meat had a positive influence on the sensory variables of the ready-to-eat product, thus contributing to its higher consumer acceptability.

Classification, quality characteristics, sensory perception and texture prediction of wooden breast myopathy in broilers from Argentina.

The objective of this study was to characterize the wooden breast (WB) myopathy in the poultry industry, and establish degrees of severity by analyzing the composition and important characteristics of meat quality. 175 chickens from the COBB-500 commercial line were analyzed, and three WB categories were established: normal, moderate, and severe. The prevalence was: 4.00% severe, 46.29% moderate, and 49.71% normal, and it was affected by sex and weight. The WB characterization was carried out on 7 breasts of each WB degree. A decrease in protein and ashes, an increase in fat and loss of water by dripping, and color changes were observed as the degree of severity advanced. The texture was evaluated by instrumental, sensory, and image analysis techniques. Severe samples showed alterations in compression test, cohesiveness and juiciness, together with significant differences on the parameters, "contrast" and "energy". A characterization of WB myopathy was achieved for the first time in Argentina. The decline in meat quality could lead to industrial losses. Image analysis proved to be a promising technique for differentiating the severity of WB myopathy in raw chicken. Differences between raw and cooked samples were detected, thus both types of meat should be studied in detail. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-022-05608-9.

Effects of dietary sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) oil and medicinal plant powder supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, and breast meat quality of colored broiler chickens raised in Vietnam.

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of replacing dietary soybean oil (SBO) with sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) oil (SIO) supplemented or not with medicinal plant powder (MP, 60% cinnamon twig, and 40% star anise fruits) on broiler performance, carcass traits, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) content of breast meat. A total of 288 Ho × Luong Phuong broiler chickens (age and average body weight: 6 weeks old and 877 ± 13.4 g) were equally divided into three groups (6 replicates of 16 birds each), balanced by BW and sex. Each group was randomly allocated to one of three dietary treatments: a 2% SBO diet (CON), a 2% SIO diet (SI), and a diet supplemented with 2% SIO and 1% MP (SIM). The experiment lasted for 70 days. Broiler performance, carcass traits, and technological meat quality were not affected by the diets (P > 0.05). However, colored broiler chickens fed the SIM diet had increased empty gizzard percentage (P < 0.05) compared to those fed the CON diet. Especially, the n-3 PUFA content of breast meat from broiler chickens fed diets containing SIO was higher than those of birds fed CON diet (P < 0.01). A significant decrease in cholesterol content was observed (P < 0.01) in broilers fed SIM diet compared to those fed CON diet. In conclusion, replacing 2% SBO with 2% SIO and 1% MP supplementation in broiler diets increased n-3 PUFA content and decreased cholesterol content in breast meat, without negative effects on bird performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. Therefore, a combination of SIO and MP can be used as an effective strategy to ameliorate the meat quality of finishing broiler chickens by enhancing n-3 PUFA content and reducing the cholesterol content of breast meat.

Effects of season, genotype and rearing system on some meat quality traits for broilers raised in semi-intensive systems.

We compared fast-growing and slow-growing broilers raised in extensive indoor, free-range, and traditional free-range systems in terms of meat quality in spring and summer. Five different semi-intensive broiler production applications (fast- in extensive indoor, slow- in extensive indoor, fast- in free-range, slow- in free-range and slow- in traditional free-range) were used according to EU standards. Extensive indoor and free-range birds were slaughtered at 57 days of age and traditional free-range chickens at 82 days. The higher (P < 0.05) skin yellowness (b*) values found in spring compared to summer may have been due to better pasture conditions in spring. The pH24 value of breast meat during the summer period was higher (P < 0.05) than that in spring, but lightness (L*) was similar. Thawing and cooking losses were higher (P < 0.05) in breast meat samples from the summer experiment. The season affected (P < 0.05) all sensory attributes of breast meat; spring samples were appreciated more in terms of all the features discussed. Regarding the skin b* value, the highest average value was detected for slow chickens in the slow- in free-range and traditional free-range groups, most likely because slow chickens spent more time grazing. Fast- showed higher pH24 values than slow- (P < 0.05) in extensive indoor and free-range groups. We did not observe differences in pH24 due to grazing in fast-, but grazing slow- showed lower pH24 values than their indoor counterparts. Further, in the extensive indoor system, both genotypes were similar in terms of breast meat L* and b*, whereas slow- in the free-range system showed higher (P < 0.05) averages than fast-. Based on our results, the traditional grazing system has a positive impact on meat sensory features.

Guanidinoacetic acid supplementation is favourable to broiler diets even containing poultry by-product meal.

1. Two consecutive trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation (a creatine precursor) and energy levels in broiler diets based on maize-soybean meal (Trial 1) or that additionally included poultry by-product meal (PBPM; Trial 2) on growth performance, carcass yield and breast meat quality to 41 days of age. 2. A total of 792, one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly distributed into six treatments - three energy levels (sufficient AMEn or 0.2 and 0.4 MJ/kg reduced AMEn) and two GAA levels (0.00% or 0.06%) with eight replicates for each trial. 3. Reducing dietary energy resulted in poorer body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratios (FCR) for each trial (P < 0.05). However, GAA supplementation improved FCR, BWG and European Production Efficiency Factor (EPEF) (P < 0.05). 4. Dietary energy level and GAA addition had no significant effect on carcass parameters, drip loss, pH and chemical composition of breast meat (P > 0.05), but decreased relative liver weight (P < 0.05). 5. It was concluded that, regardless of dietary energy levels, supplementation of GAA to plant-based diets or those including PBPM has the potential to improve growth performance in broilers.

Effect of dietary digestible lysine level on growth performance, blood metabolites and meat quality of broilers 23-38 days of age.

This study was done to evaluate the effects of different dietary digestible lysine (dig Lys) levels on growth performance, blood metabolites, carcass and breast yield, and breast meat quality of broilers 23-38 days of age. Three hundred 23-day-old Cobb-500 male broiler chickens were allocated to a completely randomized design with five treatments (finisher diet containing 0.88%, 0.94%, 1.00%, 1.06% and 1.12% dig Lys) and six replicates of 10 birds each. Feed intake (FI) was not affected by different dietary dig Lys levels. Weight gain (WG) linearly increased and feed conversion ratio (FCR) linearly decreased with an increasing dietary dig Lys levels. With increasing dietary dig Lys levels, carcass and breast yield and breast meat hue angle (h* ) linearly increased, but abdominal fat decreased quadratically, whereas breast meat lightness (L* ) and ether extract composition linearly decreased. Dietary dig Lys levels did not show any significant effect on serum metabolites, breast meat cooking loss and water holding capacity. Based on the linear broken-line regression models, the weight gain, feed conversion ratio and breast yield were optimized when dietary dig Lys levels were 0.95%, 1.01% and 1.02% respectively. It is concluded that Lys requirements vary according to what productive parameter is taken for optimization. A minimum of 1.02% dig Lys concentration in the finisher diet is suggested to optimize breast yield, feed efficiency and performance in broiler chickens.

Effects of selenium-enriched Bacillus sp. compounds on growth performance, antioxidant status, and lipid parameters breast meat quality of Chinese Huainan partridge chicks in winter cold stress.

BACKGROUND: Both selenium (Se) and probiotic Bacillus regulate the metabolism to help defense clod stress and improve the meat quality in breeding chicks. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplemental Se and Bacillus in the form of Se-enriched Bacillus (SECB) on the growth performance, lipid parameters, breast Se and antibiotic levels, and breast meat quality of chicken in winter cold stress. METHODS: Five hundred 1-d-old chickens were divided into five groups randomly: Control, inorganic Se, compound Bacillus, SECB, and antibiotic. The feed duration was 56 d. RESULTS: After 28 d of treatment, chicks feed SECB or compound Bacillus had higher body weights than the control, and after 56 d, chicks given either SECB or compound Bacillus had higher body weights than the control chicks or those given inorganic Se. Adding SECB to feed significantly increased the lightness, redness, and yellowness of breast meat, improved the water-holding capacity, and reduced the shear force and cooking loss. The concentration of Se in the breast muscle very significantly increased after SECB and inorganic Se supplementation, which was opposite to the concentration of flavomycin in antibiotic supplemented chicks. The antioxidative status of plasma and breast meat was significantly improved with added compound Bacillus and SECB: the total antioxidant capacity, total superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase ability in the breast muscle significantly improved, and the malondialdehyde concentration in plasma decreased. The levels of total cholesterol plasma triglyceride and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the plasma and breast muscle was decreased compared to that of the control, while the plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration increased. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, SECB supplementation promoted the body growth, antioxidative status, and Se concentrations in the plasma and breast meat, and also improved the breast meat quality.

The growth of turkeys 2. Body components and allometric relationships.

1. The relationships between the main components of the body and body protein among males and females of BUT 6 (BUT) and Hybrid Converter (HYB) turkey strains were examined. 2. The weights of breast meat, breast skin, drumstick meat, drumstick skin, thigh meat, thigh skin and wing-plus-skin as well as the head, neck, feet, blood, heart, liver and gizzard were measured at different stages of growth after which all components of each bird were minced together in order to determine the feather-free body protein weight of each bird sampled. Using the weights of the components and the protein content of each bird the allometric relationships between the components and body protein were determined and then compared for each strain x sex combination. 3. By excluding the breast weights at day-old and at 7 d, the remaining points produced an acceptable allometric relationship (R2 = 0.992). Thigh weight could be predicted for all strain x sex combinations using one allometric equation, as could drumstick skin weight. Breast and thigh skin weights differed between males and females. Females of the HYB strain exhibited heavier drumstick and wing-plus-skin weights at a given body protein weight than the other three strain x sex combinations. These differences in both the constant term and regression coefficient in the allometric equations between genotypes are probably due to differences in the amount of lipid that is deposited in these tissues. 4. Sexes differed in the allometric relationships for head, feet, heart and liver, while breeds differed in gizzard weight. A common relationship between the four genotypes could be used to predict the weight of blood in the carcass. 5. The allometric equations fitted to the data in this trial enable the accurate prediction of the weights of the different physical components given the weight of body protein.

Effects of phytogenic feed additive based on thymol, carvacrol and cinnamic aldehyde on body weight, blood parameters and environmental bacteria in broilers chickens.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a phytogenic feed additive (PFA) based on essential oils such as carvacrol, thymol and cinnamic aldehyde, could be considered a replacement for antimicrobials used as growth promoters in broiler chickens, as well as to investigate its effect on total bacterial count, biochemical profiles, meat quality and meat fatty acid profile. A total of 240 broiler chicks were randomly distributed into 4 groups with 4 replicates of 15 animals each, as follow: T1 (basal diet only; the control group), T2 (basal diet supplemented with zinc bacitracin), T3 (basal diet with 0.5% of the PFA), T4 (basal diet with 1.0% of the PFA). The addition of 0.5% of the PFA improved live body weight of supplemented birds compared to the control group at 35 and 42 days of age, while the total bacterial count in the environment was reduced when 1.0% of the PFA was used. In addition, intestinal villi height and crypt depth suffered variations during the entire experiment in birds treated with both concentrations of the PFA and zinc bacitracin. Total erythrocyte counts were higher on days 14, 28 and 42 in both treated groups (PFA) compared to the control group, as well as hemoglobin content on days 28 and 42. On the other hand, leukocyte counts were lower on days 14, 28 and 42 due to reduced lymphocyte counts in both PFA treated groups compared to the control group. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were lower in broilers fed with either concentration of PFA on day 14 of life, and the same was observed regarding aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in broiler treated with 0.5% of the PFA. Also, total protein and globulin levels were lower on days 14 and 28 in groups fed with phytogenic compared to the control group. Regarding meat quality, breast meat showed higher red intensity and shear force in groups fed with both concentrations of phytogenic compared to the control group, while weight loss by cooking was lower. Finally, 1.0% of phytogenic showed lower docosadienoic acid (C22:2) content in breast meat. In conclusion, results showed that the use of PFAs based on carvacrol and thymol may be considered an interesting alternative to increase broilers performance, replacing the use of antimicrobials as growth promoters, as well as an interesting alternative to reduce the total bacterial count in the environment of broiler chickens. Moreover, the diet containing phytogenic also showed hepaprotective effects but deserves attention regarding possible alterations on the immune response.

Disinfection of chicken fillets in packages with atmospheric cold plasma: effects of treatment voltage and time.

AIMS: To study effects of treatment voltage and time of in-package atmospheric cold plasmas (ACP) on quality of raw chicken meat. METHODS AND RESULTS: Meat was packed in trays in air, treated with ACP and stored at 4°C for 24 h or 3 days. Increasing voltage from 55 to 80 kV caused increasing O3 inside packages, but had no effects on microbes, colour and pH after 24 h of storage at 4°C. There were no differences in O3 , microbes, colour lightness and pH between treatment times 3, 6 and 9 min at 80 kV after 3-day storage. However, microbial populations on ACP-treated meat were lower than untreated control. Treatments at 80 kV for >3 min reduced meat redness and yellowness. CONCLUSIONS: ACP voltage does not affect microbes, colour and pH of meat after 24 h of storage. ACP treatments for ≥3 min at 80 kV reduce microbes and affect colour of raw meat. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our data demonstrate that increasing ACP voltage from 55 to 80 kV or time from 3 to 9 min may not affect meat microbial growth and pH. Increasing treatment time longer than 3 min may affect meat appearance.

Estimation of lysine requirements for growing Japanese quails.

This study was conducted to estimate the lysine requirements of growing meat-type Japanese quails based on different growth responses using different regression models. Experimental treatments including five doses of dietary lysine (9.40, 10.9, 12.4, 13.9 and 15.4 g/kg of diet) were used in a dose-response platform from 7 to 21 day of age. A total of 375, 7-day old quail chicks were randomly allotted to one of five dietary treatments with five replicate pens and 15 birds per pen. Performance traits including feed intake (FI), weight gain (G) and feed:gain (F:G) and carcass criteria including dressing (DRS), breast meat yield (BMY) and leg meat yield (LMY) were measured and used to fit several models (e.g., spline and quadratic polynomial models). Except FI and LMY, other parameters responded to dietary treatments (p < .05), in which G linearly but F:G, DRS and BMY quadratically responded to incremental levels of lysine (p < .05). On the basis of statistical merit, the best estimation of lysine requirements for G, F:G, BMY and DRS was 12.39 (R2 : .93 and Sy.x : 2.35), 12.40 (R2 : .98 and Sy.x : 0.001), 13.64 (R2 : .99 and Sy.x : 0.15) and 13.80 (R2 : .99 and Sy.x : 0.50) g/kg of diet respectively. This study showed that lysine requirements for maximum carcass yield and its attributes (e.g., BMY) might be higher than those needed for maximum growth rate or feed efficiency.

Selection response and estimation of the genetic parameters for multidimensional measured breast meat yield related traits in a long-term breeding Pekin duck line.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to estimate the genetic parameters and breeding values of breast meat related traits of Pekin ducks. Selection response was also determined by using ultrasound breast muscle thickness (BMT) measurements in combination with bosom breadth (BB) and keel length (KL) values. METHODS: The traits analyzed were breast meat weight (BMW), body weight (BW), breast meat percentage (BMP) and the three parameters of breast meat (BB, KL, and BMT). These measurements were derived from studying 15,781 Pekin ducks selected from 10 generations based on breast meat weight. Genetic parameters and breeding value were estimated for the analysis of the breeding process. RESULTS: Estimated heritability of BMW and BMP were moderate (0.23 and 0.16, respectively), and heritability of BW was high (0.48). Other traits such as BB, KL, and BMT indicated moderate heritability ranging between 0.11 and 0.28. Significant phenotypic correlations of BMW with BW and BMP were discovered (p<0.05), and genetic correlations of BMW with BW and BMP were positive and high (0.83 and 0.66, respectively). It was noted that BMW had positive correlations with all the other traits. Generational average estimated breeding values of all traits increased substantially over the course of selection, which demonstrated that the ducks responded efficiently to increased breast meat yield after 10 generations of breeding. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that duck BMW had the potential to be increased through genetic selection with positive effects on BW and BMP. The ultrasound BMT, in combination with the measurement of BB and KL, is shown to be essential and effective in the process of high breast meat yield duck breeding.

Monitoring of white striping and wooden breast cases and impacts on quality of breast meat collected from commercial broilers (Gallus gallus).

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at investigating white striping (WS) and wooden breast (WB) cases in breast meat collected from commercial broilers. METHODS: A total of 183 breast samples were collected from male Ross 308 broilers slaughtered at the age of 6 weeks (n = 100) and 7 weeks (n = 83). The breasts were subjected to meat defect inspection, meat quality determination and histology evaluation. RESULTS: Of 183, 4 breasts from 6-week-old broilers were classified as non-defective while the others exhibited the WS lesion. Among the 6-week-old birds, the defective samples from the medium size birds (carcass weight ≤2.5 kg) showed mild to moderate WS degree with no altered meat quality. Some of the breasts from the 6-week-old birds with carcass weight above 2.5 kg exhibited WB in accompanied with the WS condition. Besides of a reduction of protein content, increases in collagen matter and pH values in the defective samples (p<0.05), no other impaired quality indices were detected within this group. All 7-week-old broilers yielded carcasses weighing above 2.5 kg and showed abnormal characteristics with progressive severity. The breasts affected with severe WS and WB showed the greatest cook loss, hardness, springiness and chewiness (p<0.05). Development of WB induced significantly increased drip loss in the samples (p<0.05). Histology indicated necrotic events in the defective myofibers. Based on logistic regression, increasing percent breast weight by one unit enhanced the chance of WS and WB development with advanced severity by 50.9% and 61.0%, respectively. Delayed slaughter age from 6 to 7 weeks increased the likelihood of obtaining increased WS severity by 56.3%. CONCLUSION: Cases of WS and WB defects in Southeast Asia have been revealed. Despite few cases of the severe WS and WB, such abnormal conditions significantly impaired technological properties and nutritional quality of broiler breasts.

Exudate Protein Composition and Meat Tenderness of Broiler Breast Fillets.

The relationship between meat tenderness and the protein composition of muscle exudates collected from broiler breast fillets deboned at different postmortem times was investigated. A total of 85 broilers were processed and breast fillets from each carcass were deboned at either 2 h (early-deboned, EB) or 24 h (control) postmortem. One fillet per carcass was used for 1 d postmortem meat tenderness measurements and the other fillet was stored at 4°C until 6 d postmortem for the collection of exudate prior to tenderness evaluation. Protein content and composition of muscle exudates were determined by a biuret assay and SDS-PAGE. Fillet pH, color, drip loss, and cook loss were also measured. Early-deboned fillets exhibited greater (P < 0.05) Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) than controls at 1 d (7.4 vs. 3.1 kg) and 6 d (4.1 vs. 2.5 kg). Deboning time did not influence pH or color values (L*a*b*). Control fillets exhibited less drip loss after 6 d of storage (P = 0.005) and less cook loss at 1 and 6 d (P < 0.001). Exudate protein concentration was not influenced by deboning time. From the SDS-PAGE profiles of the exudates, the relative abundances of seventeen protein bands were quantified. Electrophoresis analysis revealed that, in general, the protein profiles of exudates from control and EB fillets were not distinct from each other. However, the band corresponding to 225 kDa was more abundant in controls (P = 0.021). Although the protein concentrations and SDS-PAGE profiles of muscle exudates varied widely between breast fillets, variations in exudate protein characteristics were not strongly associated with changes in the tenderness of broiler breast meat due to the combined effects of postmortem deboning time and post-deboning aging.

Histology, composition, and quality traits of chicken Pectoralis major muscle affected by wooden breast abnormality.

Only a few years ago, the poultry industry began to face a recent abnormality in breast meat, known as wooden breast, which frequently overlaps with white striping. This study aimed to assess the impact of wooden breast abnormality on quality traits of meat. For this purpose, 32 normal (NRM), 32 wooden (WB), and 32 wooden and white-striped (WB/WS) Pectoralis major muscles were selected from the same flock of heavy broilers (males, Ross 708, weighing around 3.7 kg) in the deboning area of a commercial processing plant at 3 h postmortem and used to assess histology, proximate (moisture, protein, fat, ash, and collagen) and mineral composition (Mg, K, P, Na and Ca), sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar protein patterns, and technological traits of breast meat. Compared to the normal group, WB/WS fillets showed more severe histological lesions characterized by fiber degeneration, fibrosis, and lipidosis, coupled with a significantly harder texture. With regard to proximate and mineral composition, abnormal samples exhibited significantly (P < 0.001) higher moisture, fat, and collagen contents coupled with lower (P < 0.001) amounts of protein and ash. Furthermore, increased calcium (131 vs. 84 mg kg(-1); P < 0.05) and sodium (741 vs. 393 mg kg(-1); P < 0.001) levels were found in WB/WS meat samples. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed a significantly lower amount of calcium-ATPase (SERCA, 114 kDa), responsible for the translocation of Ca ions across the membrane, in normal breasts compared to abnormal ones. As for meat quality traits, fillets affected by wooden abnormality exhibited significantly (P < 0.001) higher ultimate pH and lower water-holding/water-binding capacity. In particular, compared to normal, abnormal samples showed reduced marinade uptake coupled with increased drip loss and cooking losses as well. In conclusion, this study revealed that meat affected by wooden breast or both wooden breast and white striping abnormalities exhibit poorer nutritional value, harder texture, and impaired water-holding capacity.

Improvement of turkey breast meat quality and cooked gel functionality using hot-boning, quarter sectioning, crust-freeze-air-chilling and cold-batter-mincing technologies.

The effect of rapid carcass chilling on breast meat quality was evaluated using commercial (COMM) and random-bred (RB) turkeys. Immediately after slaughter, 48 turkeys from COMM or RB line were randomly subjected to one of four chilling methods: 1) water-immersion chilling (WIC) of the carcasses at 0°C ice slurry, 2) WIC after temperature abuse (TA) of the carcasses at 40°C for 30 min (TA-WIC), 3) hot-boning, quarter sectioning, and crust-freeze-air-chilling (HB-(1)/4CFAC) of breast fillets at -12°C, and 4) HB-(1)/4CFAC of fillets after TA of carcasses (TA-HB-(1)/4CFAC). The TA increased carcass and fillet temperatures by ∼1.3 and ∼4.1°C, respectively, regardless of turkey line, whereas HB-(1)/4CFAC of fillets required 28 and 33% of carcass chilling time for COMM and RB, respectively. During chilling, COMM breast pH rapidly reduced from 6.04 to 5.82, resulting in a significantly lower pH than RB after chilling (P < 0.05), whereas COMM R-value sharply increased from 1.17 to 1.43, causing no difference from RB (P > 0.05). Significantly higher L* value and cooking yield (P < 0.05) were seen in the samples of TA and WIC than those of no TA and HB-(1)/4CFAC, respectively, with no difference observed between COMM and RB fillets (P > 0.05). Higher values of hardness, gumminess, and chewiness were found for RB, no TA, and HB-(1)/4CFAC gels than COMM, TA, and WIC, respectively. These results generally indicated that protein quality and textural properties of turkey fillets were improved, regardless of strains or temperature abuse, using HB-(1)/4CFAC technology.

Development of multiplex PCR assay for simultaneous detection of Salmonella genus, Salmonella subspecies I, Salm. Enteritidis, Salm. Heidelberg and Salm. Typhimurium.

AIMS: The aim of this research was to develop multiplex PCR assay that could simultaneously detect Salmonella genus, Salmonella subsp. I, Salm. Enteritidis, Heidelberg and Typhimurium because these Salmonella serovars are the most common isolates associated with poultry products. METHODS AND RESULTS: Five primers were utilized to establish multiplex PCR and applied to Salmonella isolates from chickens and farm environments. These isolates were identified as Salmonella subsp. I and 16 of 66 isolates were classified as Salm. Enteritidis, while Heidelberg or Typhimurium was not detected. We also spiked three Salmonella strains on chicken breast meat to evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of multiplex PCR as well as qPCR to optimize quantification of Salmonella in these samples. The optimized multiplex PCR and qPCR could detect approx. 2·2 CFU of Salmonella per gram after 18 h enrichment. CONCLUSIONS: The multiplex PCR and qPCR would provide rapid and consistent results. Also, these techniques would be useful for the detection and quantification of Salmonella in contaminated poultry, foods and environmental samples. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The strategy for the rapid detection of Salmonella serovars in poultry is needed to further reduce the incidence of salmonellosis in humans. The optimized multiplex PCR will be useful to detect prevalent Salmonella serovars in poultry products.

Relationship between pectoralis major muscle histology and quality traits of chicken meat.

A trial was conducted to evaluate the influence of myodegeneration of pectoralis major muscle on quality traits and chemical composition of breast meat of heavy-size male broilers. For this purpose, a total of 72 pectoralis major muscles were randomly collected from broilers farmed under homogeneous conditions and graded into three categories (mild, n=22; moderate, n=33; and severe, n=17) based on the presence of abnormal fibers (giant fibers, fibers with hyaline degeneration, and damaged and/or necrotic fibers) evaluated by histological and immunohistochemical analysis. Color, pH, drip loss, Allo-Kramer shear values, and chemical composition (moisture, proteins, total lipids, ashes, and collagen) were determined on nonmarinated breast meat. Purge loss and cook loss, total yield, and Allo-Kramer shear values were measured on vacuum-tumbled samples. Samples showing moderate myodegeneration had the highest mean cross-sectional area of the fibers, while samples with severe myodegeneration had myofibers of different diameter and without the characteristic polygonal shape, multifocal degeneration and necrosis, as well as infiltration of CD3-immunoreactive cells. Cooking losses of nonmarinated meat were lower in the mild group with respect to moderate and severe groups (21.4 vs. 24.7 and 24.7%; P<0.001). Breast muscles with severe damage, in comparison with mild degenerated samples, showed higher moisture (75.4 vs. 74.4%; P<0.05) and lower protein percentages (21.1 vs. 22.6%; P<0.001). The lipid percentage of severely degenerated samples was higher than that from moderate group (2.94 vs. 2.36; P<0.05), while collagen content was not modified by histological lesion levels. Marinated meat from the mild group had higher uptake and total marinade yield after cooking. In conclusion, almost all breast fillets of heavy broiler chickens produced under intensive farming systems had histological lesions, which reflected on the chemical composition of the meat and the impaired water holding/binding capacities of the meat.

Relationship between water-holding capacity and protein denaturation in broiler breast meat.

The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between water-holding capacity (WHC) attributes and protein denaturation in broiler breast meat. Boneless skinless breast fillets (n = 72) were collected from a commercial processing plant at 2 h postmortem and segregated into low-WHC and high-WHC groups based on muscle pH and color (L*a*b*). At 6 and 24 h postmortem, brine uptake (%), cooking loss (%), and protein solubility (sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar) were measured and protein fractions were analyzed using SDS-PAGE. Drip loss accumulation (%) was measured after storage for 2 and 7 days postmortem. High-WHC fillets exhibited lower L*-lightness values and greater pH values at 2 and 24 h postmortem than low-WHC fillets. High-WHC fillets had greater brine uptake and less cooking loss at both 6 and 24 h postmortem compared to low-WHC fillets. Aging from 6 to 24 h postmortem increased brine uptake in high-WHC fillets, but did not affect cooking loss in either low-WHC or high-WHC fillets. Drip loss accumulation was greater in low-WHC fillets at both 2 and 7 days postmortem. Myofibrillar protein solubility decreased with postmortem time but was not different between low-WHC and high-WHC fillets. Sarcoplasmic protein solubility increased with postmortem time and was greater in high-WHC fillets. SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that low-WHC fillets exhibited more glycogen phosphorylase denaturation than high-WHC fillets as evidenced by a more extensive shift of the protein from the sarcoplasmic to the myofibrillar protein fraction. Correlation analysis revealed that overall protein solubility measurements were not related to WHC attributes but that the degree of glycogen phosphorylase denaturation was significantly correlated (|r| = 0.52 to 0.80) to measures of WHC. Data indicated that WHC differences in broiler breast fillets were not due to differences in myofibrillar protein denaturation and suggested that the denaturation of sarcoplasmic proteins onto myofibrils may influence WHC in breast meat.