Comparing three textural measurements of chicken breast fillets affected by severe wooden breast and spaghetti meat

In this study, we compared three popular textural tests: the compression, Meullenet–Owens razor blade (MORS), and Allo–Kramer (AK) tests, which are used to detect the wooden breast (WB) and spaghetti meat (SM) myopathies. A total of 209 fillets (71 WB, 71 SM, 67 normal) were selected from three different flocks at a large commercial plant. Thawed fillets were subjected to 20% compression tests before and after cooking, and cooked samples were subjected to the MORS and AK tests. The compression test on raw samples showed that normal and SM fillets had lower force (5.61 and 4.69 vs. 9.52 N), work (25 and 22 vs. 45N mm), and Young’s modulus (2.71 and 2.11 vs. 4.29 N/s, p<.001) values than those of WB. The results of the compression test were confirmed by the cooked fillet results. The MORS test showed that SM had lower shear force (12.8 vs. 14.7N) and work (249 vs. 288N mm) values than those of the normal fillets, while WB showed intermediate values. The AK test results showed that SM had lower shear force (10.5 vs. 14.5N) and Young’s modulus (31.0 vs. 46.0 N/s; p.01) values than those of WB fillets, whereas normal fillets had intermediate values. The compression test can be used to identify WB in both raw and cooked meat. The MORS test could distinguish cooked SM fillets from normal fillets, whereas the AK test differentiated SM from WB.