Enhancing texture and tenderness in poultry meat Iksoon Kang, California Polytechnic State University, USA; and

Enhancing texture and tenderness in poultry meat Iksoon Kang, California Polytechnic State University, USA; and Yuan H. Brad Kim, Purdue University, USA

1 Introduction

2 Post-mortem pH decline and rigor development

3 Carcass chilling and muscle tenderness

4 Pale, soft and exudative meat

5 The crust-freeze air-chilling technique

6 Meat tenderness via enzymatic activity

7 Mechanical tenderization

8 Muscle tensioning for improved tenderness

9 Electrical stimulation of poultry carcasses

10 Marination for improved tenderness

11 Conclusions

12 Where to look for further information

13 References

Poultry has the highest per-capita consumption compared with other types of meats in the United States, and potentially the highest consumption in the world over the next five to ten years (USDA, Economic Research Service, 2015; OECD-FAO, 2015). Compared with other meats, poultry has many advantages such as low production cost, high nutritional value, rapid growth rate and a considerable number of processed products (Barbut, 2002). In addition, unlike some other types of meat, poultry meat is not affected by cultural and religious barriers. Poultry products meet the current demand for low-fat, less-saturated fatty acids, and low sodium and low cholesterol levels. For poultry growers and processors, birds can be raised in a short period of time and processed easily to produce a quality product. Out of many meat quality attributes, product taste and textural tenderness are primary factors in meeting consumers’ expectations of quality. These characteristics are significantly affected by how birds are handled before, during and after slaughter. In this

chapter, a number of processing factors are discussed for improvement of poultry product quality attributes with a focus on tenderness in particular.