Meat quality in fast-growing broiler chickens

During the past few decades there has been a notable increase in the demand for poultry meat due to its low cost, good nutritional profile and suitability for further processing. Moreover, current forecasts and projection studies have pointed out that the expansion of the poultry market will continue in the future. This growing demand in the last 30 years had led to progressive improvements in genetic selection to produce fast-growing broilers, which however induced the appearance of several spontaneous, idiopathic muscle abnormalities along with an increased susceptibility to stress-induced myopathy. Such muscle abnormalities have several implications for the quality of fresh and processed products. For instance, breast meat affected by deep pectoral myopathy is usually rejected due to its unacceptable appearance, while pale, soft and exudative like meat has a low processing ability due to its reduced water holding capacity, soft texture and pale colour. In addition, the high incidence of abnormalities observed in chicken breast muscles such as white striping (characterised by superficial white striations) and wooden breast (characterised by pale and bulged areas with substantial hardness) impair both the appearance and technological traits of breast meat. This review evaluates the consequences of genetic selection on muscle traits and describes the relevance and effects of the major breast abnormalities on the nutritional, technological, sensorial and microbial characteristics of raw and processed meat.