AI Article Synopsis

  • The study highlights a shift in meat quality monitoring from labs to processing lines, focusing on broiler breast meat colors and freshness with a Torrymeter.
  • The meat samples were categorized by color using lightness (L*) values and displayed significant differences in quality traits like pH and water-holding capacity between normal and pale fillets.
  • The findings support the use of the Torrymeter as a quick and efficient tool for assessing meat freshness, which could greatly help in identifying lower quality poultry in processing plants.

Article Abstract

The current trend in monitoring meat quality is to move the quality measurements from the laboratory to the processing line. To provide better meat quality control in the commercial poultry processing plants, we evaluated the quality of broiler breast meat samples, observing different colors, and assessed their freshness using a Torrymeter. Different colors were classified based on the mean ± standard deviation of lightness (L*) values in 1,499 broiler breast fillets: Dark (L* < 56), normal (56 ≤ L* ≤ 62), and pale (L* > 62). To characterize the differences between the pale and normal color groups, we evaluated additional fillets for meat quality traits. Changes in meat quality during storage were also evaluated. The L* and Torrymeter values (freshness values) allowed us to distinguish between the pale and normal meat samples. Normal and pale fillets showed a significant difference in pH, Torrymeter values, and water-holding capacity (P < 0.001). The L* values were significantly correlated with cook and drip loss (P < 0.01) and were higher (paler, +1.2 L* unit) at 72-h postmortem than at 4-h postmortem. Torrymeter values were correlated with cook loss (P < 0.05) and pH (P < 0.001), and significantly decreased with the increase in storage period (P < 0.001). These results suggest the applicability of the Torrymeter, a fast and non-destructive device, in distinguishing stale and fresh breast fillets. With its portability and simplicity, the Torrymeter is expected to be a valuable tool to estimate meat freshness. Especially, the use of Torrymeter for evaluating pale breast fillets may allow easy identification and separation of fillets according to their pale, soft, and exudative properties in commercial poultry processing lines.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8741502PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2021.101627DOI Listing

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