THE RELATIONSHIP OF BROILER BREAST COLOR TO MEAT QUALITY AND SHELF-LIFE

A total of three experiments were conducted to compare physical and mi crobiological properties of raw and marinated broiler breast fillets s elected as being either lighter or darker than normal. Visibly Light-a nd dark-colored breast fillets divided into marinated and control grou ps, vacuum-tumbled for 20 min at 4 C under 80 kPa pressure. Breast fil lets from the four treatment groups were evaluated for shear values, r aw and cooked meat pH, drip-loss, cook-loss, water-holding capacity, a nd 7 d psychrotrophic count. The light-colored fillets were significan tly lighter, less red, and more yellow than the dark fillets. Lightnes s values increased when fillets were marinated. Moreover, the light fi llets had a fewer pH than dark fillets. The pH values of raw and cooke d breast meat were related to meat color but not marination. Dark-colo red fillets had significantly higher marination pick-up and a higher f raction of bound moisture and significantly lower drip and cook-loss. No differences were observed in shear values between color or marinati on treatments. There were no significant differences in psychrotrophic plate counts (PPC) or capacitance detection times (CDT) due to color or treatment at Day 1. After 7 d of storage at 4 C, PPC was significan tly lower for marinated samples. No correlations were observed between pH and PPC, CDT, or odor. Based on these differences in physical and microbiological properties, further processors may consider separating breast fillets according to color.