Microbial Shelf Life and Quality Assessment of Broiler Breast Meat: The Role of Cold Storage and Carcass Weight

Globally, poultry products have been associated with outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cold storage period, carcass weight, and product form on fresh broiler bacteriology and meat quality parameters. A total of 500 one-day-old broiler birds were raised to market age (28-35 days) before slaughtering. The carcasses were classified into two groups: light weight (approximately 1100 ± 50 g) and heavy weight (approximately 1400 ± 50 g). After 4 h of post-chilling aging, 256 carcasses were randomly selected to represent the two categories. Each category of 128 carcasses was randomly distributed into two groups of 64 carcasses. One group was stored as whole carcasses, while the other group was stored as part-cut deboned breast meat at 4 °C for 1, 3, 5, and 7 days of cold storage (16 samples per storage day). Post-chilling temperature, pH, cooking loss, water holding capacity, and shear force were significantly affected by product form and storage period. Water holding capacity and shear force were also affected by carcass weight (p < 0.001). Meat colors (L*, a*, b*, chroma, and hue values) were significantly affected by the storage period. The L* value was only affected by product form and carcass weight (p < 0.01). Crude protein and ether extract were significantly affected by carcass weight and storage period, while ash was only affected by carcass weight. Aerobic plate count, psychrotrophic count, proteolytic count, lipolytic count, and coliform count were significantly increased with storage time. In conclusion, carcass weight had no impact on overall meat quality, but the meat began to deteriorate and showed an increased spoilage rate after five days of cold storage.