Comparison of the Allo-Kramer Shear and Texture Profile Methods of Broiler Breast Meat Texture Analysis

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to compare the Allo-Kramer shear (AK) and the texture profile analysis (TPA) methods of determining objective texture using broiler breast meat. In one experiment broilers obtained from a commercial processing plant were killed by cervical dislocation and one half of the breast muscles, pectoralis (p.) major and p. minor, were either removed immediately (hot boned, HB) or left on the carcass for 24 h prior to removal (chill-boned, CB). The breast meat samples were cooked in steam, and one half of the samples from each treatment were sliced to a constant thickness. Samples from the anterior, middle, and posterior sections were analyzed by Allo-Kramer shear or TPA. A second experiment was conducted identical to the first except that all birds were obtained in the form of ready-to-cook carcasses (conventional processed) from a commercial processing plant, aged 24 h, and effects of the AK and TPA methods on breast halves were compared.Processing treatment (HB vs. CB) was found to significantly affect AK and TPA values, except for values of springiness and cohesiveness. Slicing the p. major appeared to affect the results of the TPA method more than the AK method in both experiments. Both the AK and TPA methods detected differences across muscle locations.