title: Effect of stunning time and polyphosphates on quality of cooked chicken breast meat.
abstract: The objective of this research was to determine effects of stunning duration and polyphosphates on color, pH, and texture of chicken breast meat. Sixty broiler chickens were electrically stunned for 2 to 10 s in 2-s intervals and then slaughtered. Left and right Pectoralis major muscles were excised 1 h post-mortem. The left muscles (treated) were treated with a sodium tripolyphosphate salt solution, and the right muscles (controls) were treated with a salt solution alone. All muscles were cooked to an endpoint temperature of 72 C in a 95 C water bath. Measurements of muscle pH were taken on the meat 1 h post-mortem, after treating, and after cooking. Color values and Warner-Bratzler shear values were evaluated on each cooked meat sample. As stunning time increased, pH increased at 1 h post-mortem but treating with either of the solutions eliminated this trend. Muscle pH also increased upon cooking except in the polyphosphate-treated muscles, because the latter muscles achieved maximum pH prior to cooking. Stunning had no apparent effect on color values of the cooked meat; however, polyphosphate treatment resulted in meat that was darker and less red than controls. Longer stunning times resulted in greater shear values but polyphosphates did not affect Warner-Bratzler results. Taken together, these data suggest that processing variables that affect muscle pH also affect quality attributes.
authors.affiliation: Richard B. Russell Agricultural Research Center, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Athens, Georgia 30613-5677, USA.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Northcutt
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lyon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D003116:Color; D004560:Electricity; D005260:Female; D005524:Food Technology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*; D011122:Polyphosphates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012149:Restraint, Physical / Q000662:veterinary*; D013909:Thorax; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011122:Polyphosphates; C005692:triphosphoric acid