High Pressure Hydrodynamic Shock Wave Effects on Tenderness of Early Deboned Broiler Breasts

Abstract

Breast muscles that are deboned prior to 4 to 6 h postmortem are highly variable and lacking in tenderness. The poultry industry currently provides costly storage space for intact broiler breasts during this 4 to 6 h period. This thesis evaluates tenderization techniques that if effective could eliminate the need for this additional 4 to 6 h storage time. The first objective of this study was to determine a relationship between Warner-Bratzler shear values (WBS) (1 cm by 1cm, variable length strips) and consumer tenderness acceptability of broiler breasts. The breasts were divided into five groups based on their WBS values. Consumers were presented with one sample (1 cm by 1 cm by 2 cm strips) at a time and asked to report the acceptability of the sample's tenderness on a 9-point hedonic scale. Of the 62 panelists, 93.5 % found chicken breasts with WBS values from 2.1 to 3.1 kg to be acceptable. Only 83.9 % of the panelists found the extremely tender chicken breast to be acceptable (1.1 to 1.9 kg). The percentage of consumers that found the samples acceptable decreased as the WBS values increased beyond 3.1 kg (P<0.05).

The second objective determined the effects of high pressure hydrodynamic shockwave (HSW) on tenderness (48 h postmortem) of early-deboned (52 min postmortem) breasts treated 25 minutes after deboning (70 min postmortem) or treated after storage (24 hr postmortem) and compared to the corresponding non-treated companion breasts. The effect of HSW treatment on early-deboned treated 25 min after deboned broiler breasts was determined by the following methods. Live broiler chickens were obtained from a commercial poultry company and slaughtered according to commercial processing standards. The effect of HSW on early deboned stored broiler breast was examined by deboning broiler breasts 45 min postmortem and storing (4 C) for 24 h. One breast from each bird was treated with hydrodynamic shockwave, while the companion breast was used as a control. Packaged breasts were placed in the center of a 20.23 cm diameter cylinder which was vertically positioned in the bottom of a water-filled HSW hemishell tank (30.4 cm diameter) and a shockwave was produced by and a shockwave was produced by detonating 40 grams of molecular explosive in the water. Early deboned (ED) breasts stored 24 h before treatment (2.5 kg, WBS) were 42% more tender than the companion ED control breasts (4.3 kg, WBS). The HSW treated breasts would be acceptable to approximately 94 % of consumers. The ED control breasts would be acceptable to only 67.7% of consumers. Early deboned and treated 25 min after deboning breasts (5.0 kg) were not different in WBS from their companion ED control breasts (4.6 kg). Early-deboned breasts treated immediately may require higher pressure shockwaves or delayed treatment. The HSW process can overcome the problem with tenderness associated with early deboning if the breasts are processed after storage thereby providing processors with the option to debone earlier.

A third objective was to examine the effects of electrically produced shockwaves on early deboned broiler breasts and normally processed turkey breast. Broiler breasts were treated with one Pulse Firing Network (PFN) or two PFN and 45 % Energy. Breasts treated with one PFN were not different than controls. Broiler breasts exposed to two PFN were 22 % more tender and different from the controls. Turkey breast portions exposed to two PFN and 72% Energy were different (12 % lower WBS values) from the control breast portion. Electrically produced shockwaves can tenderize stored, early deboned chicken breasts and aged turkey breasts.