Problem of pale soft exudative meat in broiler chickens

1. The occurrence of the pale, soft exudative (PSE) problem in broiler breast meat was monitored in 700 birds (random samples from 7 flocks). A rapid method of colour measurement was used in the plant to assess the colour of skinless pectoralis muscles at 24 h post mortem. In addition, 10 selected samples from each flock were further evaluated for pH, water holding, cook loss, and texture. 2. The average L* value (lightness) was 47.1 with a variance of 5.38, skewness 0.33 and kurtosis 0.66. Minimum and maximum L* values recorded during the study were 35.3 and 55.5 respectively. 3. Correlations between colour and most of the physical measurements were observed, suggesting that a rapid colour measurement method could be used to recognise PSE meat or identify flocks with a high incidence of PSE. 4. Breast muscle samples with L* > 49 showed poor water holding capacity, which indicated that these samples would be classified as PSE meat. Using this criterion it was shown that the occurrence of PSE ranged from 0% to 28%. However, the precise cut off point for PSE muscle should be determined by each processor depending on final product requirements.