20 Factors affecting quality of poultry meat

Insha Rafiq Syed

Factors affecting quality of poultry meat

1. Rearing

Rearing effects quality of meat.
Unfavourable rearing conditions decrease productivity.
Temperature, airflow greatly effects bird conditions.
Temperature, ventilation rate have significant effects on quality as well as biological efficiency.

2. Pre slaughtering conditions

Bird catching:

Pre-slaughter management affects meat quality.
Catching may result in injury.
Maximum bruises result due to transportation and unloading at processing plant.
Damage prone areas include mainly carcass : breast (11%), thighs(33%) and wings (38%).
The way producer cage the birds is an important factor that determine meat quality

Stress and fatigue:

Stress and fatigue lower the quality of meat when exposed to adverse conditions before slaughter.
Dark cutting meat or dark, firm and dry (DFD) meat may be produced due to low acid
Keeping quality of meat reduced and looks dark.

3. Ante-mortem factors

Period of stress and anxiety.
Most likely takes place at farm and 12h prior to slaughter.
Birds need proper care during this particular time period.
Stress may accelerate rigor mortis development, reduce water holding ability, and paleness in meat.
Transportation stress reduce tenderness and increase lightness.
Reduce plasma levels of corticosterone.
Lower incidence of carcass bruising, when birds transported before slaughter.

Fasting:

Stunning:

An ante-mortem factor that can have profound effect on meat quality.
Stunning may immobilize the bird for automatic killing .
commonly done by passing electric current from saline bath to bird’s head through its body.
Marked effect on muscle characteristics that induce hemorrhages and broken bones.
Other factor affecting is stunning duration.
Alternative form of stunning is gas stunning.
Birds exposed to anesthetic gas carbon dioxide or a mixture of carbon dioxide and argon to deprive the bird of oxygen.
Influence the development of rigor mortis and the need for aging.

4. Handling and slaughtering conditions

To remove stress birds shoud be relaxed
Birds to be slaughtered be disease free.
Birds should keep fast six to eight hours prior to slaughter.
Birds to be slaughtered should be kept away from rest of the birds.
Birds should be unaware of the stunning process while stunning.
Slaughtering has a major influence on the quality of meat.
Slaughtering area should be free from contamination.
Proper drainage facilities for water, blood.
Slaughtering equipments should be clean, sterile, free from microbial load.
After slaughtering, defeathering should be done followed by evisceration. Eviscerated bird should be thoroughly washed.

Quality maintenance after slaughtering

Temperature should be controlled as well as packaging and handling systems.
Temperature around 0°C for frozen poultry temperature of -18°C or lower are useful.
Controlled atmosphere packaging using gas flushing and modern laminated films for unfrozen.

Factors affecting meat quality

Biochemical changes:

Rigor mortis develops as:

• Depletion of glycogen and accumulation of lactic acid in the muscle.

• Inhabits glycolysis and ATP production.

• Actin –myosin dissociation occurs.

Glycolysis and rigor mortis occur significantly faster in poultry in comparison to that of red meat.

Temperature:

Influences rigor mortis and overall meat quality.
Increase of 10°C resulted in 20 fold increase in protein denaturation.
Elevated temperature leads to degradation.
Rigor mortis in meat-type chickens is complete within 2 to 3 hours of postmortem.
Temperatures between 37° and 41° C exhibit rapid rates of glycolysis and onset of rigor mortis especially in broiler.
Rigor increases carcass temperature .

Chilling:

Done below 4°C within 1.5 h of death with water immersion or 2.5 h of death with air chilling.
Rapid chilling reduce microbial growth, but also
Serves to increase the firmness of the muscle and stiffness of skeleton.

Ageing:

you can view video on Factors affecting quality of poultry meat

Refrences

Berri, C. (2000). Variability of sensory and lipid oxidation in broilers exposed to high temperature at an early age. Br. Poult. Sci. 41:489-493.
Debut, M., C. Berri, E. Baeza, N. Sellier, C. Arnould, D. Guemene, N. Jehl, B. Boutten, Y. Jego, C. Beaumont and E. Le Bihan- Duval. (2003). Variations of chicken technological meat quality in relation to genotype and preslaughter stress conditions. Poult. Sci. 82:1829-1834.
Debut, M., C. Berri, C. Arnould, D. Guemene, V. Sante-Lhoutellier, E. Baeza, N. Jehl, Y. Jego, C. Beaumont and E. Le Bihan- Duval. (2005). Behavioural and physiological responses of three chicken breeds to pre-slaughter shackling and acute heat stress. Br. Poult. Sci. 46:527-
Van Hoof, J. (1979). Influence of ante- and peri-mortem factors on biochemical and physical characteristics of turkey breast muscle. Vet. Q. 1:29-36.
Warriss, P. D., S. C. Kestin, S. N. Brown and E. A. Bevis. (1988). Depletion of glycogen reserves in fasting broiler chickens. Br. Poult. Sci. 29:149-154.
Whiting, T. S., L. D. Andrews, M. H. Adams and L. Stamps. (1991). Effects of sodium bicarbonate and potassium chloride drinking water supplementation. 2. Meat and carcass characteristics of broilers grown under thermoneutral and cyclic heat-stress conditions. Poult. Sci. 70:60-66.