title: Measurement of water-holding capacity in raw and freeze-dried broiler breast meat with visible and near-infrared spectroscopy.
abstract: The feasibility of using visible/near-infrared spectroscopy (vis/NIR) to segregate broiler breast fillets by water-holding capacity (WHC) was determined. Broiler breast fillets (n = 72) were selected from a commercial deboning line based on visual color assessment. Meat color (L*a*b*), pH (2 and 24 h), drip loss, and salt-induced water uptake were measured. Reflectance measurements were recorded from 400 to 2,500 nm in both raw and freeze-dried breast meat samples. Raw and freeze-dried samples had similar spectra in the visible region (400-750 nm), but the freeze-dried samples exhibited numerous bands in the NIR region (750-2,500 nm) corresponding to muscle proteins and lipids that were not observed in the NIR spectra of the raw samples. Linear discriminate analyses were used to classify fillets as high-WHC or low-WHC according to predicted meat quality characteristics. Using the visible spectra (400-750 nm), fillets could be correctly classified into high-WHC and low-WHC groups based on drip loss and salt-induced water uptake with 88 to 92% accuracy in raw samples and 79 to 86% accuracy in freeze-dried samples. Using the NIR spectra (750-2,500 nm), fillets could be correctly classified into high-WHC and low-WHC groups with 74 to 76% accuracy in raw samples and 85 to 86% accuracy in freeze-dried samples. Thus, freeze-drying enhanced the accuracy of WHC classification using the NIR portion of the spectra. Data from this study demonstrate the potential for utilizing vis/NIR spectroscopy as a method for classifying broiler breast meat according to WHC.
authors.affiliation: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Richard B. Russell Research Center, Athens, GA 30605 brian.bowker@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bowker
authors.affiliation: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Richard B. Russell Research Center, Athens, GA 30605.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.affiliation: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Richard B. Russell Research Center, Athens, GA 30605.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhuang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D005612:Freeze Drying; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D010369:Pectoralis Muscles / Q000737:chemistry*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: broiler breast meat; freeze-dried; meat quality; visible-near infrared spectroscopy; water-holding capacity