Wooden Breast & Meat Quality

Quiz 5

Question:

Describe wooden breast and white striping Myopathies in poultry and their impact on meat quality.

Discussion:

The increasing demand for poultry meat and poultry products has left the members of the industry looking for ways to improve the growth of broilers. Poultry meat provides a relatively cheap source of protein. There are also many convenient and fast meal options, produced from poultry meat. The increasing demand for convenient and efficient sources of protein has left the poultry industry trying to improve the growth of broilers. The demand has been met by raising a larger bird in a shorter amount of time. This increased growth rate has been accomplished through several methods. The broilers have been genetically selected for rapid growth, and they have been fed diets that provide more energy and nutrients.

The increased growth rate for broilers to meet the increased demand for a low-cost source of protein by the consumers has generated a couple of myopathies. The poultry industry is now facing two common myopathies, which seem to be a result of the increased rate of growth. Wooden breast and white striping are the two common myopathies of today’s poultry meat. White striping appears to be white striations the are parallel to the fibers of the muscle, and it also gives the meat a fatty, marbled appearance, which makes the meat appear abnormal (Tasoniero et al., 2016 ). Wooden breast is an increased hardness and paleness of the meat, which generally is associated with the cranial part of the breast muscle (Tasoniero et al., 2016). Wooden breast can have caudal ridges if severe enough. The causes of these myopathies are not fully known at this time and continuous research is being conducted in an attempt to discover the underlying causes of these myopathies. The increased growth rate does seem to play a role in the observed myopathies, and the incidence of the myopathies appears to be more common in white muscle, with the red muscle experiencing less incidence (Tasoniero et al., 2016). The myopathies have resulted in undesirable quality traits of the poultry meat and negative feedback from consumers is occurring.

The first myopathy to consider is white striping. As noted earlier, white striping appears to be striations of fat parallel to the muscle fibers. This appearance is undesirable for consumers. The increased fat appearance lessens the appeal of poultry meat, a lean protein source compared to other meats. The occurrence of lesions appears in both myopathies, and it is an undesirable characteristic of the meat. The presence of white striping increases the pH of the meat but does exhibit a major effect on the cook loss of the meat (Trocino et al., 2015). The increased amount of fat that exists in the poultry meat that have white striping appear to have a decreased water holding capacity (Soglia et al., 2016). The meat that has white striping has a higher collagen content and experiences a slight decreased water holding capacity. The meat with white striping exhibits a tough texture and decreased juiciness compared to normal meat (Tasoniero et al., 2016). White striping has led to an undesirable texture in instances. The appearance and poor texture qualities has negatively impacted the consumer preferences.

The other common myopathy experienced today is wooden breast. As described earlier, wooden breast is increased hardness and paleness of the breast muscle. The paleness provides an undesirable appearance to the meat. The characteristics of the meat that exhibit wooden breast appear to be more undesirable among consumers than meat with white striping. Poultry meat with wooden breast have a higher pH and lower water holding capacity (Soglia et al., 2016). The thaw loss and cooking loss of meat with wooden breast increases (Trocino et al., 2015). The shear force, or force required to shear through sample, is drastically increased in wooden breast samples (Trocino et al., 2015). The decreased water holding capacity has led to meat that is less juicy compared to normal meat and even meat with white striping in some instances. Wooden breast leads to meat that is drastically tougher (Tasoniero et al., 2016). The increased hardness of the meat as a result of wooden breast has led to poor texture. The potentially abnormal muscle structure has also led to decreased marinade uptake and increased water retention in marinated meats that have wooden breasts (Soglia et al., 2016). Wooden breast has also resulted in increased chewiness, which has led to poor reception by consumers.

The rapid growth rate and high energy diets of modern broilers has allowed the poultry industry to meet the increased demand for low-cost, quality protein by consumers. The solution to the increased demand has presented a couple of problems for the industry. Wooden breast and white striping myopathies have appeared. These myopathies have created a product with an undesirable appearance. The myopathies have created textural and functional problems with the meat. The product is undesirable for consumers. If severe enough, the meat with these myopathies has to be utilized in other ways that decreases its value. The exact causes of these myopathies is still unknown, but research is continuously being conducted in order to correct these problems and allow quality meat to be rapidly produced.

References:

Soglia, F., Mudalal, S., Babini, E., Di Nunzio, M., Mazzoni, M., Sirri, F., Cavani, C., and Petracci, M. 2016. Histology, composition, and quality traits of chicken Pectoralis major muscle affected by wooden breast abnormality. Poult. Sci. 95:651-659.

Tasoniero, G., Cullere, M., Cecchinato, M., Puolanne, E., and Dalle Zotte, A. 2016. Technological quality, mineral profile, and sensory attributes of broiler chicken breasts affected by White Striping and Wooden Breast myopathies. Poult. Sci. 95:2707-2714.

Trocino, A., Piccirillo, A., Birolo, M., Radaelli, G., Bertotto, D., Filiou, E., Petracci, M., and Xiccato, G. 2015. Effect of genotype, gender and feed restriction on growth, meat quality and the occurrence of white striping and wooden breast in broiler chickens. Poult. Sci. 94:2996-3004.