Meat quality traits and proteome profile of woody broiler breast (pectoralis major) meat

Abstract

Woody breast meat has recently become prevalent in the broiler industry in both the United States and European Union. Recent publications have described the meat quality characteristics of woody breast meat as having hardened areas and pale ridge-like bulges at both the caudal and cranial regions of the breast. The present study investigated the meat quality (pH, color, cooking loss, and shear force) and protein quality characteristics (protein and salt-soluble protein content) in woody breast meat as compared to normal breast meat. In addition, the differences in the muscle proteome profiles of woody and normal breast meat were characterized. Results indicated that woody breast meat had a greater average pH (P < 0.0001) and cooking loss (P = 0.001) than normal breast meat, but woody breast meat did not differ in shear force (P > 0.05) in comparison to normal breast meat samples. The L*, a*, and b* values of woody breast fillets were greater than normal breast fillets (P < 0.0001 to L*; P = 0.002 to a*; P = 0.016 to b*). The woody breast meat had more fat (P < 0.0001) and moisture (P < 0.021) and less protein (P < 0.0001) and salt-soluble protein (P < 0.0001) when compared with normal breast fillets. Whole muscle proteome analysis indicated 8 proteins that were differentially expressed (P < 0.05) between normal and woody breast meat samples. The differences in muscle proteome between normal and woody breast meat indicated an increased oxidative stress in woody breast meat when compared to normal meat. In addition, the abundance of some glycolytic enzymes, which are critical to the regeneration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in postmortem muscles, was lower in woody breast meat than in normal breast meat. Proteomic differences provide additional information on the biochemical pathways and genetic variations that lead to woody breast meat. Further research should be conducted to elucidate the genetic and nutritional contributions to the proliferation of woody breast meat in the United States.

The effects on the quality of poultry meat of supplementing feed with zinc-methionine complex

“…The significant effect of bleeding on meat colour was showed by Hopkins et al (2006). Additionally, Cai et al (2018) showed significantly lower a* value of breast meat in normal meat with comparison to wooden breast. They observed that normal meat was significantly less red than other faulty breast meat (wooden breast and white stripping).…”

“…One of the negative factors is the high density of birds, which makes them very stressed. Secondly, fast muscle growth causes weakening of bones (the head of the tibia) and the formation of a series of muscle myopathies, such as white striping, wooden breast, spaghetti meat and deep pectoral myopathy (Cai et al, 2018). In addition, because of the high density of birds Sałek, P., Przybylski, W., Jaworska, D., Adamczak, L., Zielińska, D., Głuchowski, A.…”

Wooden‐Breast, White Striping, and Spaghetti Meat: Causes, Consequences and Consumer Perception of Emerging Broiler Meat Abnormalities

“…Similar findings have been observed in chicken breast with WB myopathy (with or without WS). Several authors have reported consistent results including significant reduction in protein and ash contents and increase in moisture and lipid levels in WB muscles compared to their normal counterpart (Cai et al., ; Soglia et al., ,b; Wold et al., ). The collagen content in the WB, SM, WB, WS/WB, and WS/SM presented contrasting results since some studies showed a higher content than the normal group and others did not observe a significant difference (Baldi et al., ; Cai et al., ; Soglia et al., ,b).…”

Transcriptome analysis reveals a molecular understanding of nicotinamide and butyrate sodium on meat quality of broilers under high stocking density

“…The drip loss was determined according to Liu et al [72]. Cooking loss was measured according to the protocol described by Cai et al [73]. The pH values of the pectoral muscle at 45 minutes and 24 hours were measured by a pH meter (testo 205; Germany).…”