Near-infrared spectroscopy detects woody breast syndrome in chicken fillets by the markers protein content and degree of water binding

Abstract

The muscle syndrome woody breast (WB) impairs quality of chicken fillets and is a challenge to the poultry meat industry. There is a need for online detection of affected fillets for automatic quality sorting in process. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a promising method, and in this study we elucidate the spectral properties of WB versus normal fillets. On a training set of 50 chicken fillets (20 normal, 30 WB), we measured NIR, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) T2 relaxation distributions, and crude chemical composition. NIRS could estimate protein in the fillets with an accuracy of ±0.64 percentage points. T2 distributions showed that there was a larger share of free water in WB fillets. This difference in water binding generated a shift and narrowing of the water absorption peak in NIR around 980 nm, quantified by a bound water index (BWI). The correlation between BWI and T2 distributions was 0.78, indicating that NIRS contains information about degree of water binding. Discriminant analysis showed that NIRS obtained 100% correct classification of normal versus WB on the training set, and 96% correct classification on a test set of 52 fillets. The main reason for why NIRS can successfully discriminate between WB and normal fillets is the methods sensitivity to both protein content and degree of water binding in the muscle, both established markers for WB. The classification model can be based on NIR spectra only, calibration against protein is not needed. The affected muscle tissue associated with the WB syndrome is unevenly distributed in the fillets, and this heterogeneity was characterized by NIRS and NMR. Clear differences in water binding properties were found between the superficial 1 cm layer and the deeper layer at 1 to 2 cm depth. Significant differences in protein estimates by NIRS at different measurement points along the chicken fillets were obtained for WB fillets. The findings suggest how to obtain optimal sampling with NIRS for best possible discrimination between WB and normal breast fillets.

Wooden‐Breast, White Striping, and Spaghetti Meat: Causes, Consequences and Consumer Perception of Emerging Broiler Meat Abnormalities

“…The weakness in the technique for detecting these myopathies is a key point and fast and nondestructive methods need to be developed and applied. On this regard, some successful attempts have been made, such as the application of radiofrequency spectra in the detection of WS in skin-on chicken carcasses (Traffano-Schiffo, Castro-Giraldez, Colom, & Fito, 2017) and the usage of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) for the detection of breast fillets chicken with WB (Wold, Måge, Løvland, Sanden, & Ofstad, 2018;Wold, Veiseth-Kent, Høst, & Løvland, 2017). Although the use of NIR in the detection of WB was effective, the technique was developed for breast fillet, and its efficacy in carcasses was not tested.…”

Present and future of portable/handheld near-infrared spectroscopy in chicken meat industry

“…15 Similar results (96-100% correct classification) were found for portable NIR (760-1040 nm) in tandem with linear discriminant analysis (LDA). 16,17 Furthermore, portable NIR can be used for the prediction of quality parameters, such as tenderness, pH, cooking loss, water holding capacity and chemical composition. Portable NIR (450-950 nm) was successfully applied for predicting pH values in chicken breast.…”

Characterization of Collagen Structure in Normal, Wooden Breast and Spaghetti Meat Chicken Fillets by FTIR Microspectroscopy and Histology

“…Fibrosis occurs when the muscle fibers undergo necrosis, and the muscle fibers are replaced by connective tissue [5]. These abnormalities also have higher collagen and fat content in the superficial layer than the normal (NO) chicken and higher water, and lower protein content [3,[6][7][8][9].…”