EFFECT OF ELECTRICAL STUNNING ON POSTMORTEM BIOCHEMICAL-CHANGES AND TENDERNESS IN BROILER BREAST MUSCLE

Two hundred broilers were commercially processed with and without electrical stunning to determine the effect of stunning on biochemical changes and its relationship to final meat tenderness. Electrically stunned birds were more tender with 30% lower shear values than no‐stun controls after 24 hr aging. Breast muscles of electrically stunned birds showed significantly higher ATP, CP and pH, and lower lactate level than no‐stun controls during the early processing steps. It was concluded that electrical stunning inhibited the rapid breakdown of ATP, CP and glycogen, and thus delayed the onset of rigor until after spin‐chill by which time muscle temperature reached 4°C. Consequently, the rigor process occurred at low temperature where potential heat shortening was avoided, resulting in improved meat tenderness. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved