Relationship of broiler bruise age to appearance and tissue histological characteristics

Because commercial broilers may be bruised at any time during production an d even up to the time of slaughter, minimizing bruising requires a clear un derstanding of when and how it occurs. The present study was conducted to i nvestigate the relationship between the age, visual appearance, and histolo gical characteristics of a bruise. Market-aged broilers were anesthetized, bruised on the breast, wing, and drum, and processed 0, 1, 6, 12, or 24 hr after receiving the bruises. Bruise color measurements revealed that as the ir age increased, breast bruises became darker (higher Delta L; change in l ightness value), whereas wing and drum bruises became lighter (lower Delta L). Redness and yellowness of breast bruises were not significantly differe nt at any of the bruise ages. With increasing bruise age, wing bruises beca me less red and less yellow, and drum bruises became more red and more yell ow. Histological tissue samples showed that drum bruises were more severe t han breast or wing bruises at all time intervals. For all bruises, maximum Delta L and tissue edema occurred in carcasses of broilers injured 6 hr bef ore processing.