Expressible fluid measurements of broiler breast meat affected by emerging muscle abnormalities

Abstract

Effects of emerging myopathies, spaghetti meat (SM), wooden breast (WB), and white striping/WB (WS/WB), on meat water-holding capacity (WHC) were investigated using expressible fluid (EF). Broiler breast meat (Pectoralis major) was collected from a commercial plant and sorted into normal (NORM), SM, WB, and WS/WB categories. The filter paper method was used to measure EF of fresh, frozen, and cooked meat samples with myopathies. Ratios of the total wet area over meat area were used to estimate EF. There were no differences in EF ratios between NORM and bone (dorsal) side of WB and WS/WB meat regardless of raw meat state and between NORM and SM meat regardless of SM location and meat state. There were no differences in EF ratios between NORM, SM, WB, WS/WB for cooked meat except for the samples from discolored area of cooked WB and WS/WB meat. Meat from skin (ventral) side of raw WB and WS/WB showed greater (P < 0.05) EF values (>4.01) than that of NORM (<3.30). The EF values (<3.89) from discolored area of cooked WB and WS/WB were lower than that of NORM (5.01). Effects of myopathies on EF/WHC vary with locations in abnormal broiler Pectoralis major.