Nix Color Sensor as potential tool for evaluating colour in broiler breast meat

A study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of an innovative and portable sensor (Nix Spectro Color Sensor) for the instrumental assessment of chicken breast meat color. Three individual replicates of the experiment were conducted using a total of 90 boneless, skinless, 24 h post-mortem fillets from 6-week-old female Ross 308 broilers (2.8 kg live weight). Samples were selected in the deboning area of a commercial processing plant based on their lightness (L*) values, which were measured with a standard tristimulus colorimeter (Minolta CR-400) and used to classify them as dark, normal, or pale fillets. The L* thresholds used to discriminate the three color groups were established from measurements obtained in a preliminary trial: dark (L* < 54), normal (55 < L* < 58), and pale (L* > 59). Upon arrival at the laboratory, fillets (30/group) were analyzed for color using both the Minolta CR-400 colorimeter and the Nix Spectro Color Sensor, as well as for pHu, drip loss, and cooking loss. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA to evaluate the effect of color group. In addition, Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated. Overall, when comparing the colorimetric data obtained with the tristimulus Chroma Meter and the Color Sensor, differences were found with the values measured with the last being lower than that observed with the Minolta. These differences may be attributed to the characteristics of the light-emitting sources integrated in the devices, which can lead to different scattering of the incident light due to its interaction with the meat surface and/or structure. Nevertheless, significant differences among color groups were detected for all color parameters when the Color Sensor was used. Also, as expected, paler breast meat was associated with lower (P < 0.001) pHu and poorer (P < 0.001) water-holding capacity, while dark breast meat showed an opposite behavior. When correlations were considered, a high degree of significance was observed particularly between the L* values measured with the two color-measuring instruments (r = +0.90; P < 0.001), whereas associations were weaker for redness (a*; r = +0.61; P < 0.001) and yellowness (b*; r = +0.52; P < 0.001). Notably, the correlations of lightness with pHu, drip loss, and cooking loss showed similar coefficients regardless of the instrument used. In conclusion, these results indicate that the Nix Spectro Color Sensor can represent a viable alternative to the conventional chroma meters for both research and industrial applications.