Effect of acute heat stress and slaughter processing on poultry meat quality and postmortem carbohydrate metabolism

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of acute heat stress and slaughter processing on poultry meat quality and carbohydrate metabolism. Broilers (200) were randomly divided into 2 groups receiving heat stress (HS; 36°C for one h), compared to a non-stressed control (C). At slaughter, each group was further divided into 2 groups for slaughter processing (L = laboratory; F = commercial factory). L group breasts were removed immediately after bleeding without carcass scalding or defeathering, and stored at 4°C. F group broilers were scalded (60°C, 45 s) after bleeding and defeathering. Then the breasts were removed and cooled in ice water until the core temperature was ≤4°C. Rates of Pectoralis core temperature and pH decline were changed by slaughter processing, but only HS affected ultimate pH in group L. HS muscles had higher L* values (P < 0.05) than controls at 24 h postmortem. Laboratory processing "hot-deboning" increased drip loss, which resulted in a lower cooked loss (P < 0.05). Postmortem glycolysis was affected only by HS. The speed of lactic acid accumulation and glycogen degradation was faster in the HS group than controls at 5 min postmortem. During storage the glycolysis rates were not different (P > 0.05). Sarcoplasmic protein solubility was higher in F processed birds (P < 0.05). HS decreased the solubility of myofibrillar and total protein in the L-slaughtered birds. Thus, HS caused a higher frequency of accelerated muscle glycolysis than controls. Factory processing (chilling) could not completely eliminate the effects of accelerated glycolysis caused by pre-slaughter HS.

Chitosan oligosaccharide as an effective feed additive to maintain growth performance, meat quality, muscle glycolytic metabolism, and oxidative status in yellow-feather broilers under heat stress

“…Broilers exposed to heat stress would induce multiple physiology disturbances, such as endocrine disorders ( Rajaei-Sharifabadi et al., 2017 ), immune suppression ( Wang et al., 2018 ), and oxidative stress ( Ganesan et al., 2017 ; Zhang et al., 2018 ) and adversely affect the meat quality by changing muscle glycolysis metabolism and oxidative status ( Zaboli et al., 2019 ). Either acute or chronic heat stress had detrimental effects on meat quality by increasing postmortem glycolytic metabolisms ( Zhang et al., 2012 ; Zaboli et al., 2019 ) and induced a lower ultimate pH accompanied with variation in water-holding capacity, meat color, and tenderness of meat, resulting in a lower purchasing desire ( Zhang et al., 2012 ; Wang et al., 2017 ). In recent years, numerous nutritional strategies have been used to alleviate the detrimental effects of heat stress on animals, and dietary supplementation with functional oligosaccharides attracted increasing attention ( Cheng et al., 2019 ; Tavaniello et al., 2020 ).…”

Ginseng Extract Ameliorates the Negative Physiological Effects of Heat Stress by Supporting Heat Shock Response and Improving Intestinal Barrier Integrity: Evidence from Studies with Heat-Stressed Caco-2 Cells, C. elegans and Growing Broilers

“…Obvious signs of heat stress in poultry include poor production performance (e.g., decreased feed intake and daily weight gain), poor meat and egg quality, and high morbidity and mortality rates [5][6][7].…”

Impact of selected antioxidant vitamins (Vitamin A, E and C) and micro minerals (Zn, Se) on the antioxidant status and performance under high environmental temperature in poultry. A review

“…Climate change can cause severe damage in the production of food of animal origin for human consumption. Heat stress is one of the prominent environmental elements which can influence meat quality (Lara & Rostagno, 2013;Wang et al, 2017). The high environmental temperature may cause reduced performance and increased mortality.…”