Relationships Between Attributes of Woody Breast and White Striping Myopathies in Commercially Processed Broiler Breast Meat

Abstract

SUMMARY The relationship between woody breast (WB) and white striping (WS) myopathies were investigated in breast fillets collected from commercial slaughter facilities that process large broilers. For the population of samples collected in this study, 94.2% of all WB fillets also exhibited WS. Of the fillets that did not exhibit WB, 54.0% exhibited WS. Of the fillets that exhibited severe WB, 27.9% had severe WS, 50.9% had moderate WS, and 21.2% had mild or no WS. Approximately 82.8% of all WS fillets also exhibited WB. Of the fillets that did not exhibit WS, 26.0% exhibited WB. Among fillets that exhibited severe WS, 40.7% had severe WB, 46.0% had moderate WB, and 13.3% had mild or no WB. The strength of the relationship between WS and WB scores decreased as average fillet weight increased. In addition to overall WB and WS scores, a subset of fillets was also evaluated for specific attributes of muscle hardness, rigidity, out-bulging shape, and the occurrence of petechial hemorrhages on the skin-side surface of the fillets. Muscle hardness, rigidity, and out-bulging shape were highly correlated to WB scores but their relationships with WS were much weaker. There was a statistically positive, but relatively weak, correlation between the occurrence of petechial hemorrhages and the WB and WS myopathies. With regards to developing WB sorting criteria and methodologies, tactile traits have a greater potential for accurately indicating the presence and severity of the WB myopathy in broiler breast meat than visually-assessed traits such as WS.