The characterization and incidence of pale, soft, and exudative broiler meat in a commercial processing plant

Pale, soft, exudative (PSE) turkey meat is a growing problem for the industry of further processed poultry meat. The low pH condition due to rapid glycolysis while the body temperature is still high leads to protein denaturation, causing pale color and reduced water-holding capacity. This condition impacts product yield and quality. These studies were designed to estimate the incidence of PSE broiler meat in a commercial plant and to use response surface methodology to characterize the relationship between pH and lightness (at deboning and at 24 h postmortem), expressible moisture, drip loss, and cook toss. Pale fillets had significantly lower pH, greater L* values at 3 and 24 h postmortem, and higher expressible moisture, drip loss, and cook loss. The lower water-holding capacity of the pale fillets was characteristic of PSE meat. Additionally, L* values were measured on 3,554 boneless broiler breast fillets in a commercial processing line. By using the L* value range (>54) from the pale group of fillets as an indication of paleness, approximately 47% of the 3,554 fillets were pale and could potentially exhibit poor water-holding capacity. These results may not represent the entire industry but indicate that PSE chicken can represent a substantial proportion of commercially processed broiler meat.