Commercial implementation of postmortem electrical stimulation

Postmortem electrical stimulation (ES) of meat-producing species is not a new technology but has recently been adapted for commercial use with poultry. Unlike its use in red meats to reduce the inherent toughness and facilitate grading, the application of ES in poultry is to reduce the need for aging carcasses before deboning by reducing the toughening that occurs when the meat is deboned early after death. The current practice of aging intact carcasses or breast halves 4 h or more prior to deboning costs the industry millions of dollars in lost yield and creates logistical problems in plants. Electrical stimulation reduces the need for aging by accelerating the energy depletion involved in rigor mortis development to reduce the shortening-related toughness of early deboning. Some ES systems have the additional effect of inducing physical disruption in the muscle, reducing muscle integrity and counteracting the toughness induced by early deboning. Several ES systems have been reported in the literature with some having been recently developed into commercial-scale devices. With this new technology and the growing pressure on processors to maximize operating efficiencies, processors will need to evaluate their tenderness management programs and customer demands to determine the role ES can play in their operations.