Induced Red Discoloration of Broiler Breast Meat: i. Effect of Blood, Bone Marrow and Marination

Abstract

The bloody, undercooked appearance of fully cooked chicken causes complaints and product rejection by consumers. This defect has been described as a persistent problem with bone-in chicken. Many studies have addressed pink meat or bone darkening, but none have studied the red discoloration problem. Therefore, constituents found in the broiler carcass (breast meat, blood and bone marrow) were combined in an external system to determine the effect of blood and marrow on inducing red discoloration. Three replicate trials were conducted where broiler breast meat was combined with: nothing (control); blood; bone marrow; or, both. An identical set of samples was prepared with added marinade (water, salt and phosphate). Duplicates of each treatment were prepared, placed in glass tubes and cooked. CIE L* (lightness) and a* (redness) values were determined on raw preparations and on cooked meat. Blood, marrow and the combination of both produced significantly (P < 0.05) darker and redder raw and cooked breast meat. Blood contributed more to the darkness of raw meat, while marrow contributed more to the darkness of cooked meat and to the redness of both raw and cooked meat. The blood-marrow combination produced darker raw and cooked meat than either ingredient alone, but the combination did not produce redder meat than marrow alone. Marination resulted in darkened raw breast meat, but had little effect on meat darkness or redness when blood, marrow, or both were added. Marrow was determined to be the most important component for inducing red discoloration of breast meat.