White striping prevalence and its effect on meat quality of broiler breast fillets under commercial conditions

Abstract

White striping (WS), characterized by white striations on the Pectoralis major muscle, is an emerging problem for the broiler industry. Thus, the impact of WS on meat quality has become a current research topic. In this context, a 2‐year follow‐up study, to reveal the prevalence of WS in broiler integrations, was undertaken. Additionally, a laboratory experiment was conducted to determine the oxidative quality during storage and the differences in proximate composition, colour and fatty acid and amino acid profiles of broiler breast fillets scored visually as normal, moderate and severe. In integrations, the WS incidence increased with increasing broiler age and more than 50% of breast fillets obtained from 32‐ to 35‐day‐old broilers and 36‐ to 39‐day‐old broilers had stripes with different scores. Lower protein and higher fat contents were measured in the moderate and severe scored fillets than the normal fillets (p < 0.001). Severe score stripes induced the formation of less redness on the ventral surface (p < 0.05) and a darker colour on the dorsal surface (p < 0.01). The lowest histidine, arginine and tryptophan amounts were determined in severe fillets (p < 0.05). Moderate and severe scored fillets were rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids implying that they were sensitive to lipid oxidation. That suggestion was further proven by the higher TBARS values. Freeze‐thawing induced the formation of carbonyl compounds, but it did not cause differences in sulphydryl groups. Briefly, we suggest that different WS scores may affect the physicochemical and oxidative quality of breast fillets; however, more studies are needed to assert an accurate and explicit judgement.

Reliability of a White Striping Scoring System and Description of White Striping Prevalence in Purebred Turkey Lines

“…A potential factor worth considering in future studies is the type of birds used, since pedigree stock, which was used in the present study, tends to be larger and may show differing levels of WS compared to commercial birds that are typically a hybrid cross. The WS prevalence of the studied population was similar, if not slightly higher than that previously published in broiler chickens, ranging between 56-87% in heavy strains [10,[22][23][24]. A case has been made for WS being an emerging problem in broiler chickens over the past years and that this issue may also be present in turkeys.…”

“…The incidence of WS has been researched in broiler chickens, and flock prevalence between 56-87% has been reported in heavy strains [10,[22][23][24]. Research on WS in turkeys is limited compared to broiler chickens, with a recent study showing a flock-level prevalence of over 60% [25].…”

Effect of feeding histidine and β-alanine on carnosine concentration, growth performance, and meat quality of broiler chickens

“…Depletion of His and related dipeptides was described in studies about the outcome of WB and WS ( Abasht et al., 2016 ; Sundekilde et al., 2017 ; Golzar Adabi and Demirok Soncu, 2019 ; Soglia et al. 2019 ).…”

Integrated metabolomics and lipidomics evaluate the alterations of flavor precursors in chicken breast muscle with white striping symptom

“…WS is featured with white striations parallel to muscle fibers ( Kuttappan et al, 2012a ). WS incidence has varied from 12% up to 98% in broilers ( Kuttappan et al, 2012a ; Petracci et al, 2013 ; Tijare et al, 2016 ; Kuttappan et al, 2017 ; Malila et al, 2018 ; Golzar Adabi and Demirok Soncu, 2019 ). According to the degree of WS partitioning, the affected breasts were divided into normal, moderate, severe, or extreme ( Kuttappan et al, 2016 ).…”