Quality parameters of chicken breast meat affected by carcass scalding conditions

OBJECTIVE: The influence of broiler carcass scalding conditions on chicken breast meat quality parameters was investigated. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy Cobb broiler chickens from 42 to 48 days old were slaughtered according to the standard industry practice and scalded in five temperature/time combinations—T(1), 54°C/210 s; T(2), 55°C/180 s; T(3), 56°C/150 s; T(4), 57°C/120 s; T(5), 58°C/90 s. RESULTS: Scalding temperature increase resulted in higher values of external and ventral lightness and in protein functionality reduction—determined by emulsification capacity and protein denaturation—in chicken breast fillets 24 h post-mortem. Protein secondary structures had conformational changes, with a decrease of the α-helix and an increase of the β-sheet and β-turn proportions, mainly in T(1) and T(5) samples, determined by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in an attenuated reflectance mode analysis. The chemical composition, pH, water holding capacity and Warner-Bratzler shear force did not differ among the treatments. In the fatty acid profile, the 18:1n-9 was lower in T(5), which suggested that the high scalding-temperature could have caused the lipid oxidation. The values of the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), such as 22:2, 20:4n-6, and 22:6n-3, were highest in the T(5), thus being related to the phospholipid cellular membrane collapse in this experimental condition and subsequent release of these PUFA. CONCLUSION: Intermediate scalding-parameters avoided the negative changes in the chicken meat quality.