Prediction of water holding capacity in intact broiler breast fillets affected by the woody breast condition using time-domain NMR

Abstract

The potential of time-domain NMR (TD-NMR) was evaluated as a non-destructive method for predicting water holding capacity (WHC) in intact broiler breast fillets with the woody breast (WB) condition. Raw fillet samples were collected from a commercial plant and classified into normal, moderate WB, and severe WB groups. WHC was measured with drip loss and cook loss. Water properties were determined with TD-NMR. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis were used to estimate relationships between WHC and muscle water properties. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on muscle water properties to identify similarities and differences of the WB condition. Increasing severity of the WB condition resulted in increased drip loss and cook loss. Significant Pearson correlations were found between WHC and muscle water properties, with the greatest correlation found between cook loss and the T21 time constant (r = 0.86, P < 0.001). MLR models indicate that the WHC was mainly attributed to P22 relative area and/or T21 time constant. PCA results showed a good feasibility to distinguish severe WB fillets from normal ones. This study demonstrates that TD-NMR could be applied as an alternative method for predicting the meat WHC and the severity of the WB condition.