Comparison of quality traits among breast meat affected by current muscle abnormalities

Over the past several decades, as a result of the increasing growth rate and body size of modern hybrid birds, poultry industry has been facing up the occurrence of many breast meat abnormalities, such as White Striping (WS), Wooden Breast (WB) and Spaghetti Meat (SM), whose incidence has recently reached alarming levels. Thus, the present study aimed at simultaneously investigating the implications of WS, WB and SM abnormalities on meat colour, pH, proximate composition, fatty acid profile, collagen, thermal properties as well as texture and water mobility, assessed on both superficial and deep section of P. major muscle. Overall, the occurrence of breast abnormalities is associated with a higher ultimate pH and a significant increase in moisture and fat level, coupled with a decrease in protein and ash content with WB showing the most detrimental effect. However, fatty acid profile resulted to be mildly modified only by WS. Moreover, WB fillets showed significantly higher (P<0.001) collagen content and stromal protein denaturation enthalpy associated with an altered water distribution and mobility within the muscle tissue. On the contrary, SM samples displayed a lower (P<0.001) collagen cross-linking and a softer texture after the cooking. Overall, these findings reveal that the occurrence of WB abnormality exerts a more profound and prominent effect on meat quality traits rather than the presence not only of WS, but also of SM.