Muscle water properties in raw intact broiler breast fillets with the woody breast condition

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between muscle water properties, water-holding capacity (WHC), and woody breast (WB) severity in intact raw broiler breast fillets. Broiler pectoralis major deboned at 3 h postmortem was collected from a commercial plant and categorized as normal (NORM), moderate WB, or severe WB (SEV). Meat drip loss was calculated based on weight loss during overnight storage at 4°C. Water properties of the intact fillets were determined with time domain nuclear magnetic resonance and the T(2) relaxation times were determined using an inverse Laplace algorithm (CONTIN). Three T(2) water components, hydration water (T(2b)), intra-myofibrillar water (T(21)), and extra-myofibrillar water (T(22)), were identified. With increasing WB severity, the time constant of each water component and the relative content of T(22) (P(22)) increased while the relative areas of T(2b) and T(21) (P(2b) and P(21), respectively) decreased. Spearman correlation analysis showed that there were significant correlations between the WB condition score and either the time constant or normalized area for each T(2) component. T(22) normalized areas (A(22)) were most strongly correlated with the WB score (r = 0.75); however, the weakest correlation was found between the WB score and T(21) areas (A(21)). Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the strongest correlation (r = 0.64) was found between A(22) and drip loss; however, there was no correlation between A(21) and drip loss. Within the NORM group, drip loss was significantly correlated to the time constants for both T(2b) and T(21). Within the SEV group, only A(22) was significantly correlated to drip loss. These data indicate that the WB condition has a significant impact on the distribution of water within the intact muscle tissue. The content of extra-myofibrillar water in broiler breast fillets may be a key factor responsible for the poor WHC measurements in WB meat.