Tenderness and Physical Characteristics of Broiler Breast Fillets Harvested at Various Times from Post-Mortem Electrically Stimulated Carcasses

Abstract

In three experiments, tenderness and various physical characteristics were determined for broiler breast fillets harvested after picking (hot boning), after chilling (chill boning), or after a 48-h aging period (aged boning) from high (240, 530, 820 V) or low (45 V) voltage electrically stimulated carcasses. Electrical stimulation was applied within 2 to 3 min post-mortem.Low voltage post-mortem electrical stimulation, regardless of tested duration, significantly decreased toughness of hot-boned breast meat. High voltage electrical stimulation, regardless of voltage or duration, had no significant effect on the tenderness or moisture content of hot-boned or aged-boned fillets. Stimulation significantly increased absorbance values and decreased pH at time of hot boning and chill boning but had no effect on these characteristics in aged-boned fillets. High voltage stimulation (820 V) significantly decreased shear values and increased sarcomere lengths of chill-boned breast fillets producing an acceptable level of tenderness. The data from the three experiments indicated that low voltage (45 V) electrical stimulation improved tenderness of hot-boned fillets; however, high voltage electrical stimulation (820 V) was required to produce a tenderizing response in chill-boned fillets. Tenderness response was more highly related to myofibrillar disruption and increased sarcomere length than to pH or ATP disappearance (absorbance ratio) and was of sufficient magnitude to alleviate toughness associated with chill-bone fillet products.