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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2012, Vol. 12 Issue (8): 1384-1390    DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8669
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Occurrence and Characterization of Pale, Soft, Exudative-Like Broiler Muscle Commercially Produced in China
 ZHU Xue-shen, XU Xing-lian, MIN Hui-hui,  ZHOU Guang-hong
National Center of Meat Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P.R.China
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摘要  Pale, soft, exudative-like (PSE-like) broiler muscle is a growing problem for meat industry all over the world. However, limited studies have been made to assess broiler meat quality in China. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics and incidence of PSE-like broiler muscle commercially produced in China. A total of 1 274 Pectoralis muscles of Arbor Acre broiler were randomly obtained from the processing line to determine the commercial incidence of PSE-like muscle based on color. Furthermore, broiler Pectoralis muscles selected from the 1 274 muscle samples were classified as PSE-like muscle (L*>53, n=33) and normal muscle (L*>48 and L*=53, n=33) to assess meat quality. It was determined that PSE-like muscle had lower muscle pH values, lower water-holding capacity (WHC), lower sarcoplasmic protein solubility, and lower total protein solubility than the normal muscle did. SDS-PAGE profile also showed that bands of approximate 96 and 24 kDa in sarcoplasmic protein and myofibrillar protein varied between these two groups, suggesting partial denaturation of sarcoplasmic proteins and precipitation on myofillarments. Correlation analysis showed that L* values have significant correlation with WHC and protein solubility. Furthermore, the distribution of L* values exhibited a normal curve with range varying from 42.70 to 58.37. It was considered that approximately 23.39% of the population was PSE-like muscle. These results suggest that PSE-like meat can represent a significant portion of commercially processed broiler breast meat in China and that the L* value measurement could be used to sort broiler meat quality using a cut-off point.

Abstract  Pale, soft, exudative-like (PSE-like) broiler muscle is a growing problem for meat industry all over the world. However, limited studies have been made to assess broiler meat quality in China. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics and incidence of PSE-like broiler muscle commercially produced in China. A total of 1 274 Pectoralis muscles of Arbor Acre broiler were randomly obtained from the processing line to determine the commercial incidence of PSE-like muscle based on color. Furthermore, broiler Pectoralis muscles selected from the 1 274 muscle samples were classified as PSE-like muscle (L*>53, n=33) and normal muscle (L*>48 and L*=53, n=33) to assess meat quality. It was determined that PSE-like muscle had lower muscle pH values, lower water-holding capacity (WHC), lower sarcoplasmic protein solubility, and lower total protein solubility than the normal muscle did. SDS-PAGE profile also showed that bands of approximate 96 and 24 kDa in sarcoplasmic protein and myofibrillar protein varied between these two groups, suggesting partial denaturation of sarcoplasmic proteins and precipitation on myofillarments. Correlation analysis showed that L* values have significant correlation with WHC and protein solubility. Furthermore, the distribution of L* values exhibited a normal curve with range varying from 42.70 to 58.37. It was considered that approximately 23.39% of the population was PSE-like muscle. These results suggest that PSE-like meat can represent a significant portion of commercially processed broiler breast meat in China and that the L* value measurement could be used to sort broiler meat quality using a cut-off point.
Keywords:  broiler Pectoralis muscles      color      water-holding capacity      protein solubility  
Received: 12 January 2011   Accepted:
Fund: 

broiler Pectoralis muscles| color| water-holding capacity| protein solubility System (CARS-42). The authors wish to thank Mr. Kevin Deegan, Department of Food and Environment, University of Helsinki, Finland, for his revision of the paper.

Corresponding Authors:  CorrespondenceU ZHOU Guang-hong, Tel: +86-5Z71-63370364, E-mail: ghzhou@nhjau.edu.cn     E-mail:  ghzhou@nhjau.edu.cn
About author:  ZZHU Xue-shen, E-mail: xueshenHzhu@gmail.com

Cite this article: 

ZHU Xue-shen, XU Xing-lian, MIN Hui-hui, ZHOU Guang-hong. 2012. Occurrence and Characterization of Pale, Soft, Exudative-Like Broiler Muscle Commercially Produced in China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12(8): 1384-1390.

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