Use of blade tenderization to improve wooden breast meat texture2

G. Tasoniero,∗ B. Bowker,∗,1 A. Stelzleni,† H. Zhuang,∗ M. Rigdon,† and H. Thippareddi‡

∗
USDA, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Athens, GA 30605; † Department
of Animal & Dairy Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605; and ‡ Department of Poultry Science,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605

ABSTRACT The effectiveness of blade tenderiza-
tion (BT) in improving the texture of wooden breast
(WB) meat was evaluated through compression and
shear analyses. Butterfly fillets (n = 144) were col-
lected during 3 sampling replications and scored as nor-
mal (NORM), moderate (WB MOD), or severe wooden
breast (WB SEV). One side from each butterfly was
blade tenderized and the other side served as an un-
treated control. Fillets were subjected to both com-
pression and shear analyses in either the raw or cooked
state. At 24 h postmortem, drip loss, pH, and color
traits were assessed on raw fillets. Muscle condition
(M), treatment (T), measurement location (L), and
their interaction effects were investigated. WB fillets
were heavier (P < 0.0001) and possessed greater pH
(P < 0.0001) than NORM fillets. L∗ a∗ b∗ values on the
skin side were increased in WB fillets (P < 0.0001), as
were drip and cook loss (P < 0.0001). Irrespective of
degree of severity, WB meat was harder as evidenced
Key words: poultry meat, wooden breast, blade tenderization, meat texture
by greater compression force (P < 0.0001) in both raw
and cooked fillets. Shear force of raw meat progressively
increased from NORM to WB SEV (P < 0.0001) but
there were no shear differences between NORM and
WB MOD after cooking. Blade tenderization decreased
compression and shear values in both raw and cooked
WB fillets compared to untreated controls (P < 0.01).
The significance of location effect for compression force
(P < 0.0001) suggested that WB texture was not uni-
form within the same fillet. In raw fillets, an M × T in-
teraction (P < 0.0001) was found for both compression
and shear values and indicated that blade-tenderized
WB MOD and WB SEV still possessed harder texture
than NORM meat. However, the cooked shear values of
WB SEV fillets subjected to BT were similar to those of
untreated NORM fillets. Therefore, BT improved, but
did not fully resolve the issues of abnormal tactile and
texture characteristics in WB meat in either the raw or
cooked state.
2019 Poultry Science 98:4204–4211
http://dx.doi.org/10.3382/ps/pez163

INTRODUCTION has been drawn to an emerging defect of chicken pec-

During the last several decades, poultry meat
production and consumption have increased rapidly
worldwide, and this trend forced poultry supply chains
to improve growth rate, feed efficiency, and breast meat
yield of broilers to fulfill the ever-increasing demand
for chicken meat (Petracci et al., 2015; Kuttappan
et al., 2016). Challenging birds to reach high body and
breast weights within a short rearing period permitted
the industry to achieve greater production. However,
rapidly growing broiler strains exhibit substantial
breast myopathies that have a profoundly negative
impact on meat quality (Petracci and Cavani, 2012;
Kuttappan et al., 2016). Only recently, global attention

C 2019 Poultry Science Association Inc.
Received October 1, 2018.
1
Corresponding author: brian.bowker@ars.usda.gov
2
The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is
for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not
constitute an official endorsement or approval by the United States
Department of Agriculture or the Agricultural Research Service of any
product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable.
toralis major muscle called “wooden breast” (WB),
which is characterized by remarkably hard consistency
at palpation (Sihvo et al., 2014). In affected fillets,
hardness is accompanied by an unappealing appear-
ance (Sihvo et al., 2014), as well as notably impaired
functionality and cooked meat texture (Mudalal et al.,
2015; Sanchez-Brambila et al., 2018).
The WB condition is of great relevance for the poul-
try sector due to the huge economic losses. Affected
meat is often marketed as a downgraded product
or even diverted from human consumption thereby
causing an estimated loss of $200 million per year (Kut-
tappan et al., 2016). To limit the economic losses, the
poultry industry can include affected chicken meat into
value-added further processed products. An alternative
option could be to enhance the eating quality of intact
WB fillets by improving their texture characteristics
through tenderizing techniques. This could potentially
help the industry by allowing WB fillets to be utilized
as intact whole-muscle products and reducing the
necessity of downgrades. Blade tenderization (BT) is

4204
 BLADE TENDERIZATION AND WOODEN BREAST
a mechanical method that has been successfully used
to tenderize tough red meat cuts. Blade tenderization
consists of piercing the meat with a set of blades or nee-
dles spaced at a given interval as the meat passes along
a conveyor belt. This weakens the meat structure by
severing the myofibrillar protein network and the con-
nective tissue (Jeremiah et al., 1999; Bekhit et al., 2014;
Obuz et al., 2014). It is unknown if BT would have a
positive impact on the texture attributes of WB meat.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether
BT is an effective strategy to improve the meat texture
characteristics of WB meat. Despite the obvious
abnormal tactile properties of WB meat in the raw
state, an understanding of how these traits mechanis-
tically influence cooked meat texture is still lacking
(Chatterjee et al., 2016). Thus, instrumental meat tex-
ture measurements in this study were assessed on both
raw and cooked breast fillets using multiple methods.
Both compression and shear analyses were utilized to
determine the effects of BT on the texture and tactile
traits of WB meat. The effect of measurement location
was also considered, as WB lesions are not uniform
within the pectoralis major but are localized mainly
in the cranial portion of the muscle (Sihvo et al., 2014;
Clark and Velleman, 2016; Dalle Zotte et al., 2017).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Sample Collection and Experimental
Groups
A total of 144 butterfly fillets were selected at 3 h
postmortem from a commercial broiler slaughter plant
during 3 different sampling sessions. Samples were
transported to the U.S. National Poultry Research Cen-
ter (Athens, GA) packed in resealable bags on ice. But-
terfly fillets were trimmed; left and right halves were
separated, individually weighed, tagged, scored for WB,
packed, and stored at 4◦ C until the next day. On each
of the 3 sampling days (replications), 48 butterfly fillets
were sorted and scored according to their muscle con-
dition into normal (NORM; n = 16 butterfly fillets),
moderate wooden breast (WB MOD; n = 16 butterfly
fillets), and severe wooden breast (WB SEV; n = 16
butterfly fillets). Selection criteria were based on the
palpation of pectoralis major muscle cranial and cau-
dal ends. According to Sihvo et al. (2014) and Tijare et
al. (2016), breasts exhibiting a normal, soft consistency
were classified as normal (NORM); those exhibiting a
hard consistency only on the cranial end were classi-
fied as moderate (WB MOD); and fillets having a dif-
fuse hard consistency throughout the entire muscle were
considered severely impacted (WB SEV). Both the left
and the right halves of the butterfly fillets were indepen-
dently scored. Only butterfly fillets having both sides
with matching WB scores were selected for the trial.
Breasts were assigned to 12 experimental groups (n =
8 fillets/group/rep) created according to different mus-
cle conditions (NORM, WB MOD, or WB SEV), status
4205
Table 1. Experimental groups and number of fillets per replica-
tion.1
Experimental groups
RAW COOKED
Treatment CTRL2 (L)3 BT4 (R)5 CTRL (L) BT (R)
NORM 1 (n = 8) 4 (n = 8) 7 (n = 8) 10 (n = 8)
WB MOD 2 (n = 8) 5 (n = 8) 8 (n = 8) 11 (n = 8)
WB SEV 3 (n = 8) 6 (n = 8) 9 (n = 8) 12 (n = 8)
1
The experiment was replicated 3 times using a total of 288 breast
fillets.
2
CTRL = control, not blade-tenderized.
3
L = left fillets.
4
BT = blade-tenderized.
5
R = right fillets.
of fillet for texture analysis (raw or cooked), and treat-
ment (control—CTRL or blade tenderized—BT) (Table
1). Groups 1 (NORM), 2 (WB MOD), and 3 (WB SEV)
consisted of left halves used as controls, whereas their
right counterparts (groups 4, 5, and 6, respectively)
were blade tenderized. Similarly, groups 7 (NORM),
8 (WB MOD), and 9 (WB SEV) consisted of left
halves used as controls, whereas their right counterparts
(groups 10, 11, and 12, respectively) were blade tender-
ized. Texture analysis was performed on raw fillets for
groups 1 to 6 and after cooking for groups 7 to 12.
Sample Treatments and Measurements
At 24 h postmortem, all fillets were reweighed
to determine drip loss. Meat pH and color were
measured on fillets belonging to groups 1, 2, and
3. Meat pH was measured once with a Hach H160
portable pH meter (Loveland, CO), and a spear-tipped
probe inserted into the fillet cranial end. Color values
(CIE 1976, L∗ a∗ b∗ ) were measured on the cranial,
medial, and caudal ends of both the skin and bone
sides of the fillets with a Konica Minolta CM-700d
spectrophotometer (Konica Minolta, Ramsey, NJ;
settings of illuminant D65, 10◦ observer, no specular
component, and an 8 mm aperture). The L∗ a∗ b∗
values reported for each side represent an average
of the 3 measurements. Fillets in treatment groups
4 to 6 and 10 to 12 were blade tenderized using 2
passes through an automatic Ross Tenderizer TC700M
(Ross Industries Inc., Midland, VA), with the first
pass skin-side up and the second pass bone-side up.
The tenderizer was equipped with a dual head (224
needles per head; 32 incisions per inch) and a 12-inch
wide stainless-steel conveyor belt having a speed of
5.5 ft/min. Samples designated for cooked texture
analyses were weighed, vacuum packed, and cooked in a
Henny Penny MCS-6 Combi oven (Henny Penny Corp.,
Eaton, OH) set at 83.9◦ C until a core temperature of
76◦ C was reached (Zhuang and Savage, 2009). During
cooking, core temperatures were monitored using a
copper/constantan thermocouple system (Thermalert
TH-8) with hypodermic needle microprobes (Type
MT-23/5, Physitemp Instruments, Inc., Clifton, NJ)
4206 TASONIERO ET AL.

inserted into the thickest portions of the fillets. Once Table 2. Pectoralis major weight, pHu , L∗ a∗ b∗ values, drip loss,
cooked, samples were placed in a refrigerated room and cook loss according to muscle condition (NORM, WB MOD,
and WB SEV).1
at 4◦ C and allowed to cool, reweighed to determine
cook loss, and kept refrigerated overnight prior to Muscle condition (M)
texture analysis. Compression tests were carried out Traits NORM WB MOD WB SEV SE P-value
on all raw and cooked samples using a TA-XTplus
Texture Analyzer equipped with Texture Exponent Weight, g 415B
495 A
513 A
19 < 0.0001
pHu 5.99B 6.14A,b 6.24A,a 0.03 < 0.0001
Version 4.0.13.0 software (Texture Technologies Corp., Skin side
Scarsdale, NY). Intact fillets were subjected to a single L∗ 63.2B 65.8A 65.6A 0.5 < 0.0001
30% compression strain exerted perpendicular to fiber a∗ –0.83B 0.05A,b 0.51A,a 0.23 < 0.0001
b∗ 8.16B 11.7A,b 12.9A,a 0.6 < 0.0001
orientation using a 50-kg loading cell connected to an Bone side
aluminium cylinder probe of 12-mm diameter (Zhuang L∗ 60.6 61.3 61.1 1.1 NS
and Bowker, 2018). Pre- and post-test speeds were set a∗ –0.89 –0.45 –0.41 0.30 NS
b∗ 10.8B 12.9A 13.1A 0.6 < 0.0001
at 3.00 mm/s, test speed was 1.00 mm/s, and trigger Drip loss, % 1.40B 1.66A 1.77A 0.24 < 0.0001
force was 20 g. Measurements were performed on the Cook Loss, % 24.8C 31.6B 33.3A 1.3 < 0.0001
skin-side surface of each breast at 3 different locations: A,B
Means within the same row followed by different uppercase super-
cranial (location 1), cranial/medial (location 2), and script letters differ P < 0.0001.
medial (location 3). Following compression analysis, a,b
Means within the same row followed by different lowercase super-
the same raw and cooked breast fillets were subjected script letters differ P < 0.05.
1
Fillet weight was included in the model as a covariate for the analysis
to shear force determination utilizing a modified of drip loss and cook loss.
multi-blade shear head (Supplementary Figure). The
multi-blade shear head (Jaccard Supertendermatic
48-Blade Meat Tenderizer, Jaccard Corp., Buffalo, NY) data, muscle condition, treatment, and their interac-
consisted of 3 rows of 16 blades each with pointed ends tion were analyzed as fixed effects, whereas replication
at 45◦ . Each blade was 2 mm wide with a 3-mm spacing represented a random effect. Means were separated
between blades, and blades were aligned in alternating using Bonferroni adjustments with significance set at
directions. The modified shear head ensured that the α = 0.05.
entire length of the fillet would be tested at one time
regardless of WB localization. The shear head was set RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
to come to rest 1 mm above the sample tray so that
the blades would penetrate the entire sample. Fillets Breast fillet weights, ultimate pH, and color traits
were placed on the sample tray in a cranial to caudal are reported in Table 2. WB fillets were heavier than
orientation, with the cranial end of the shear head NORM fillets (P < 0.0001) and exhibited ultimate pH
contacting the fillet 0.5 cm from the cranial crown values above 6.00 (P < 0.0001). Previous metabolomic
of the pectoralis major. The rest of the fillet was findings suggest that reduced muscle glycogen content
centered under the longitudinal axis of the shear head. and altered glucose metabolism may cause higher
The shear head was attached to a Universal Testing ultimate pH in WB meat (Abasht et al., 2016). The
Machine (Instron Dual Column Model 3365, Instron skin-side color values (L∗ a∗ b∗ ) of the breasts were
Corp., Norwood, MA) with a 500 N load cell and was altered by the occurrence of WB, with the change even
operated at 250 mm/min. The peak shear force (N) was detectable in moderate cases. Compared to NORM
recorded for analysis (Bluehill software, Instron Corp). meat, affected fillets were paler (L∗ ; P < 0.0001), more
yellow (b∗ ; P < 0.0001), and redder (a∗ ; P < 0.0001).
Increased L∗ and b∗ may be a consequence of fibrosis
Statistical Analysis and lipidosis occurring in WB meat (Dalle Zotte
et al., 2017). Greater light scattering due to increased
SAS (version 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) sta- moisture content and redistribution of water molecules
tistical software package was used to perform analysis of toward the extra-myofibrillar compartment (Soglia
variance. A mixed model (PROC MIXED) with muscle et al., 2016a; Tasoniero et al., 2017) may also contribute
condition (NORM, WB MOD, or WB SEV) as a fixed to paleness in WB meat. As for a∗ index, Mutryn et
effect and experimental replication as a random effect al. (2015) reported myoglobin overexpression in WB
was used to determine the influence of muscle condition muscles. Only a minor effect was exerted by WB on
on weight, pH, color traits, and water-holding capacity bone-side color traits, as only b∗ values differed among
(WHC). Drip and cook loss data were analyzed using groups. This observation corroborates the hypothesis
fillet weight as a covariate. A mixed model was used that the myopathic insult primarily impacts the ante-
to analyze texture data. For compression data, muscle rior end of the pectoralis major (Clark and Velleman,
condition, treatment, measurement location (1, 2, 2016) on the skin-side surface and gradually decreases
or 3), and their interactions were evaluated as fixed moving toward the deep layer (Soglia et al., 2016b).
effects, whereas replication represented a random effect An overall reduction in WHC was observed in WB
and measuring depth was used as a covariate. For shear fillets (Table 2). This phenomenon is likely due to
 BLADE TENDERIZATION AND WOODEN BREAST 4207
tissue myodegeneration and reparative responses (Si-

M×T×L
Table 3. Raw and cooked pectoralis major muscle compression force values (N) according to muscle condition (NORM, WB MOD, and WB SEV), treatment (control, CTRL
hvo et al., 2014) leading to a reduction in myofibrillar

NS
NS
proteins in lesioned breasts (Bowker and Zhuang,
2016; Soglia et al. 2016a,b). The worsened oxidative
status of WB meat proteins and lipids as well as
protein denaturation could also have contributed to

0.0110
T×L

NS
reduced WHC (Soglia et al. 2016a; Baldi et al., 2019).
Interestingly, WHC impairment in WB fillets appeared
to be independent from pH, as lesioned fillets possessed

0.0003
M×L
higher pH and reduced ability to bind water, as

NS
indicated by greater drip loss values (P < 0.0001). The
significance of the covariate (P = 0.0064) indicates that
drip loss was also strongly influenced by fillet weight.

P-value

< 0.0001
M×T
Cook loss increased with the occurrence and severity

NS
of the WB condition (P < 0.0001). These results are
consistent with previous literature on WB meat quality
traits (Mudalal et al., 2015; Chatterjee et al., 2016;

< 0.0001
< 0.0001
Soglia et al., 2016b; Tasoniero et al., 2016; Tijare et

L
al., 2016; Dalle Zotte et al., 2017; Sanchez-Brambila

and blade tenderized, BT), measurement location (1, 2, 3), and their interactions with compression depth as a covariate.
et al., 2017; Sun et al., 2018). In addition to the

< 0.0001
0.0017
empirical and instrumental hardness measurements,

T
these quality data helped confirm the adequacy of the
WB and NORM fillets used in this study.
Table 3 presents the meat texture data obtained

< 0.0001
< 0.0001
by applying a 30% compression to raw and cooked

M
samples. In raw fillets, meat compression values were
affected by muscle condition, treatment, measurement
location, and by the interaction between muscle

3.9
1.9
SE
condition and treatment (M × T). As for muscle

Means within the same row followed by different uppercase superscript letters differ P < 0.001.
condition, in accordance with published literature

36.8B
15.2
(Chatterjee et al., 2016; Sun et al., 2018), samples af-
fected by both moderate and severe degrees of WB were 3
Location (L)1

harder than unaffected fillets (P < 0.0001). The com-

A

45.0A
pression test objectively reflected the hard consistency 23.2
2

empirically detected at the processing plant. Raw WB

meat stiffness has been previously ascribed to the repar-
A

39.1B
24.4
1

ative fibrosis characterizing lesioned fillets. The WB

myopathy results in an abnormal deposition and re-
modeling of extracellular matrix components, primarily
B

39.1B
Treatment (T)
BT

16.7

of collagen and proteoglycans, in muscle interstitium,

epimysium, and perimysium (Sihvo et al., 2014; Mutryn
Locations: 1 = cranial; 2 = cranial/medial; 3 = medial.

et al., 2015; Abasht et al., 2016). Collagen is a fibrous

CTRL
A

41.5A
25.2

macromolecule conferring tensile strength (Velleman et

al., 1997), whereas proteoglycans play an essential role
in maintaining tissue structures and their mechanical
WB SEV
A

49.3A

function (Eggen et al., 1994; Velleman et al., 1997;

25.1

Serrano and Muñoz-Canoves, 2010). Interestingly,

Muscle condition (M)

Velleman and Clark (2015) reported that WB fibrosis

might vary in composition, severity, and structure,
WB MOD

thereby differently affecting meat toughness. Indeed,

A

41.3B
24.7

affected chicken belonging to different genotypes

may possess variable degrees of collagen cross-
linking due to the differential expression of decorin.
NORM

30.2C
B

Where overexpressed, this proteoglycan may lead

13.1

to more tightly packed fibrils and tougher meat.

Baldi and others (2019) observed that intramus-
cular collagen content was greater in the surface
Cooked
Traits

A,B
Raw

of WB fillets compared to NORM fillets but that

1

collagen cross-linking was not different. These ob-

4208 TASONIERO ET AL.
Figure 1. Effect of the interaction between muscle condition and
treatment (M × T) on raw pectoralis major muscle compression force
values (N).
servations suggest that connective tissue may be an
important contributor to the altered texture and tactile
traits of WB meat. Meat texture can also be related to
muscle shortening during rigor and sarcomere length.
However, previous studies found that WB fillets have
longer sarcomeres (Tijare et al., 2016) especially within
the cranial portion of the fillet (Xiao and Owens, 2016).
Therefore, the muscle stiffness, contracted appearance,
and increased compression values in WB meat do not
seem to be related to sarcomere shortening.
Overall, BT decreased compression force in raw
breast fillets (P < 0.0001) (Table 3). The softening
action of BT was likely due to the physical severing
of the myofibrillar and connective tissue networks,
thereby weakening the meat structure (Jeremiah et al.,
1999; Pietrasik and Shand, 2004). As for compression
measurement location, the cranial and cranial/medial
areas (locations 1 and 2) were harder than the medial
area (location 3) (P < 0.0001). It is increasingly
evident that WB lesions are not uniform throughout
the affected muscle. Macroscopically, Dalle Zotte et al.
(2017) noticed that characterizing lesions are mainly
distributed in the cranial end of the fillet. Microscop-
ically, it was discovered that not only pathological
fibrosis can be more abundant in the anterior end of the
breast, but also that collagen arrangement could vary
within impacted fillets (Clark and Velleman, 2016). The
magnitude of the BT effect on raw compression values
was dependent upon the WB status of the fillets as
there was a significant muscle condition by treatment
(M × T) interaction effect (Figure 1). Blade tender-
ization significantly decreased raw compression force
values in WB MOD and WB SEV fillets but had less im-
pact on NORM fillets. This is consistent with previous
studies on beef (Jeremiah et al., 1999; Schilling et al.,
2003), in which BT was more effective at decreasing the
toughness of cuts containing high amounts of collagen.
Despite the softening action exerted by BT on WB fil-
lets (Figure 1), it is worth noting that blade-tenderized
WB SEV fillets were still harder than NORM fillets
(NORM BT = 11.9 N; WB SEV BT = 20.4 N; P <
0.05). This finding could partially be explained con-
sidering that raw samples were analyzed at 24 h post-
mortem. Sun et al. (2018) described the softening effect
of refrigerated storage on breast meat by reporting that
Figure 2. Effect of the interaction between muscle condition and
measurement location (M × L) on cooked pectoralis major muscle com-
pression force values (N). Locations: 1 = cranial; 2 = cranial/medial;
3 = medial.
compression values for WB fillets decreased by half
between 0 and 72 h postmortem. Additionally, Soglia
et al. (2017) reported a progressive softening of the con-
nective tissue on the surface of WB fillets through 72 h
postmortem. Thus, it is possible that the improvements
in the tactile properties of WB fillets could have been
further enhanced by combining BT with refrigerated
storage.
Cooked fillets required higher compression forces
than raw fillets (Table 3) regardless of muscle condition,
treatment, and location, similar to Chatterjee et al.
(2016). Indeed, whereas average raw fillet compression
forces ranged between 13.1 and 25.1 N, cooked fillets
ranged between 30.2 and 49.3 N. Texture evolution
during cooking is linked to myofibrillar and sarcoplas-
mic protein denaturation, shrinkage of myofibers and
intramuscular collagen occurring at different temper-
atures (Tornberg, 2005), cooking loss, and changes
in collagen solubility (Wattanachant et al., 2004;
Kong et al., 2008). In cooked fillets, muscle condition,
treatment, and location affected meat compression
values, together with the interactions between muscle
condition and location (M × L) and between treatment
and location (T × L). The instrumental hardness dif-
ferences observed in raw WB fillets were still apparent
after cooking. The compression forces of cooked WB
SEV fillets were greater than NORM fillets, whereas
WB MOD samples were intermediate (P < 0.0001).
These findings suggest that WB meat may possess
a greater amount of insoluble collagen stabilized by
heat-resistant intermolecular bonds. Additionally, the
higher cook loss observed in WB fillets may have led to
greater muscle shrinkage and packing density of fibers
(Wattanachant et al., 2004; Huff-Lonergan and Loner-
gan, 2005). The beneficial effect of BT on compression
force was small but still distinguishable in cooked fillets
(CTRL = 41.5 N vs. BT = 39.1 N; P = 0.0017). Dif-
ferences in compression values between measurement
locations within the same fillet were observed in the
cooked state, with the cranial/medial location being
the hardest (P < 0.0001). The interaction between
muscle condition and location showed that cooked meat
texture is not homogeneous throughout WB fillets
(Figure 2). The cranial/medial area (location 2)
 BLADE TENDERIZATION AND WOODEN BREAST 4209

Figure 3. Effect of the interaction between treatment and mea-

surement location (T × L) on cooked pectoralis major muscle com- Figure 4. Effect of the interaction between muscle condition and
pression force values (N). Locations: 1 = cranial; 2 = cranial/medial; treatment (M × T) on raw pectoralis major muscle shear force values
3 = medial. (N).

350.0 a
exhibited the greatest compression force in both WB b
b b
MOD and WB SEV fillets (P = 0.0003) (Figure 2). 300.0 c c

Compared to NORM and WB MOD fillets, the WB 250.0

SEV fillets exhibited the highest compression values for
all 3 locations after cooking (P < 0.001). Interestingly,
from the T × L interaction (Figure 3), it emerged
that the cranial/medial portion of the cooked fillets
(location 2) was the only location in which compression
force significantly decreased with BT. Nevertheless,
the cranial/medial portion of the cooked fillets had
the highest compression values, both in CTRL and BT
treatments (P < 0.0001).
Table 4 shows the texture assessment obtained by
shearing raw and cooked fillets with a multi-blade
shear head designed to imitate the “hardness to bite”
(Garcı́a-Segovia et al., 2014). The WB SEV fillets ex-
hibited the greatest shear force in both the raw (P <
0.0001) and cooked states (P = 0.0318). The results in-
dicate that both the shear and compression tests used
in this study were able to discriminate between normal
and severe WB meat in both raw and cooked fillets.
However, the discriminating ability of the tests was not
consistent in terms of the degree of WB severity. With
the shear test, WB MOD and WB SEV were different
in both the raw and cooked fillets. However, the com-
pression test only sorted the 2 WB degrees in cooked
meat. As both compression and shear forces are ap-
plied to the meat during shear testing (Garcı́a-Segovia
et al., 2014), it might be that breasts experienced dif-
ferent deformation ease and behavior under the 2 anal-
yses. Blade tenderization decreased shear force values
in both raw (P < 0.0001) and cooked breast fillets (P <
0.0001). These data are consistent with previous reports
in which BT was found to decrease Warner-Bratzler
shear force values and improve cooked meat tender-
Shear force, N
200.0 CTRL
150.0
BT
100.0
50.0
290 254 281 255 312 2 80
0.0
NORM WB MOD WB SEV
Figure 5. Effect of muscle condition and treatment on cooked pec-
toralis major muscle shear force values (N).
ness in beef (Jeremiah et al., 1999; Kolle et al., 2004;
Pietrasik and Shand, 2004; Pietrasik et al., 2010). Sim-
ilar to the compression data, the M × T interaction
effect for shear values was significant in raw fillets but
not cooked fillets. Blade tenderization decreased shear
force (P < 0.0001) in raw WB MOD and WB SEV fil-
lets but not in NORM fillets (Figure 4). However, blade-
tenderized WB fillets still possessed greater raw shear
values than NORM fillets (NORM BT = 51.1 N; WB
MOD BT = 75.1 N; WB SEV BT = 88.5 N; P < 0.05).
In cooked fillets, blade-tenderized WB SEV samples ex-
hibited greater shear force values than blade-tenderized
NORM samples (WB SEV BT = 280 N; NORM BT =
254 N; P < 0.05) (Figure 5). However, the cooked shear
values of WB SEV fillets subjected to BT were similar
to those of untreated NORM fillets (WB SEV BT =
280 N; NORM CTRL = 290 N). The combined action
of cooking and BT seemed to have minimized the tex-
ture differences between the fillets. These data suggest
that BT has the potential to improve the cooked tex-
ture of WB meat such that it has similar shear force
values to normal breast meat.

Table 4. Raw and cooked pectoralis major muscle shear force values (N) according to muscle condition (NORM, WB MOD, and
WB SEV), treatment (control, CTRL and BT, blade tenderized), and their interaction.

Muscle condition (M) Treatment (T) P-value

Traits NORM WB MOD WB SEV CTRL BT SE M T M×T

Raw 53.2C 81.9B 97.9A 83.8A 71.6B 4.4 < 0.0001 < 0.0001 < 0.0001
Cooked 272b 268b 296a 294A 263B 10 0.0318 < 0.0001 NS
A,B
Means within the same row followed by different uppercase superscript letters differ P < 0.0001;
a,b
Means within the same row followed by different lowercase superscript letters differ P < 0.05.
4210 TASONIERO ET AL.
Overall, WB fillets exhibited impaired quality traits.
Both compression and shear force values were greater in
WB fillets when measured in both the raw and cooked
states. Blade tenderization significantly decreased com-
pression and shear force in both raw and cooked fil-
lets. The 2 instrumental texture analyses utilized in this
study highlighted differences in the extent to which BT
can improve the tactile and texture characteristics of
WB meat. Compression analyses revealed that although
BT significantly softened WB fillets in both the raw and
cooked states, WB fillets were still harder than normal
breast meat. On the other hand, shear force analyses
indicated that BT improved the cooked meat texture
of WB meat to the point that shear force values were
similar to normal non-treated breast meat. These data
suggest that although BT alone may not be able to
fully resolve the issues of abnormal tactile and texture
characteristics in WB fillets, BT shows potential for im-
proving cooked meat texture in WB fillets and merits
further investigation.
SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Supplementary data are available at Poultry Science
online.
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