Evaluation of broiler breast meat color using the minolta Chroma Meter and Nix Color Sensor

Instrumental color measurement is widely used in the poultry industry to ensure product uniformity and to provide rapid evaluation of meat quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate color measurements of broiler breast meat obtained using a conventional tristimulus colorimeter Minolta CR-400 Chroma Meter (Minolta Italia S.p.A., Milan, Italy) and a portable Nix Spectro 2 Color Sensor (NIX Sensor Ltd., Hamilton, ON, Canada), and to investigate the relationships between instrument-derived color parameters and key meat quality traits under commercial processing conditions. The Pectoralis major muscles from three homogeneous flocks of Ross 308 broilers were analyzed. In a preliminary screening (n = 450 fillets), samples were classified according to Minolta lightness (L*) values into pale, normal and dark groups. Then 90 fillets per color group were selected and color using both instruments, ultimate pH, drip loss, and cooking loss, were measured. Moisture content, lipid (Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances) and protein oxidation (carbonyl content) were also determined in 24 breasts per group. The Nix Spectro 2 reproduced the separation among color groups originally defined according to Minolta CR-400 L* values. Pale fillets exhibited higher lightness, oxidative indicators, drip and cooking losses and lower pH compared with normal and dark samples. Lightness measured by the two instruments was very strongly correlated (ρ = +0.90; P< 0.001), whereas strong correlations were observed for redness (ρ = +0.66; P< 0.001) and yellowness (ρ = +0.51; P< 0.001). For both devices, L* was strongly negatively correlated with pH and positively correlated with drip and cooking losses (P< 0.001), confirming the association between lightness and water holding capacity. Although absolute color values differed between instruments, the Nix Spectro 2 consistently reproduced relative color variation and its relationships with technological properties of the breast meat. In conclusion the Nix Spectro 2 represents a promising low-cost tool for assessing relative color variation in research and commercial poultry applications.