Meat quality of broiler breast meat following post-mortem electrical stimulation at the neck

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of electrical stimulation (ES) on breast fillets harvested at 1 h post-mortem and individually quick frozen (IQF) or aged on ice (ICE). Twelve birds were electrically stimulated (450 V, 750 mA, 2 s on/1 s off for 15 s) at the neck in a saline bath. Twenty-four unstimulated birds were used as controls. Breast fillets were harvested at 1 h post-mortem from ES and control carcasses or at 4 h post-mortem from control carcasses and were either IQF or ICE until 24 h post-mortem. Fillets were then analyzed for shear value, pH, R value, and color. Electrical stimulation significantly reduced shear values compared to the 1 h controls for both IQF and ICE treatments. The ICE fillets deboned at 1 h from ES-treated carcasses had shear values similar to those of ICE fillets deboned from the 4 h controls. Electrical stimulation increased the percentage of shear values at or below 8 kg/g for the fillets from ES-treated carcasses compared to the 1 h controls. Electrical stimulation accelerated the normal post-mortem decline in pH and increase in R value. There was no significant difference in L* or a* values between the fillets held for 1 or 24 h. The results suggest that by electrically stimulating carcasses at the neck using a saline bath, the aging period could be eliminated by removing fillets immediately after chilling at 1 h, decreasing the costs associated with aging whole carcasses or front halves.