The pale, soft and exudative (PSE) problem in poultry meat and ways to improve meat quality.

摘要

This project was designed to evaluate the characteristics of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) in chicken breast meat as well as characterize the functional and physical properties of PSE, normal and dark, firm and dry (DFD) meat; and determine the ability of non-meat ingredients (such as starch) or a marination with a salt and phosphate solution could rectify the protein functionality losses imparted by the PSE condition. The results showed correlations between meat quality parameters (including pH, L*, WHC, and cooking loss) for both single gender (cockerel or pullet) and mixed gender, which indicated meat quality is affected by sex of poultry. Starches could be used to recover part of the meat protein functionality lost in PSE meat by significantly reduced cooking loss (12--26%, compared to the control) and improved textural and rheological characteristic of different meat batters, but no firm conclusions could be drawn on action of marination and tumbling for rectifying the protein functionality losses imparted by the PSE condition.