An evaluation of treating broiler chickens with argon-induced anoxia combined with postmortem electrical stimulation

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the combined rigor-accelerating effects of postmortem electrical stimulation (ES) and argon-induced anoxia (Ar) of broiler chickens. A total of 100 broilers were processed in the following treatments: untreated controls, ES, Ar, and Ar combined with ES (Ar+ES). Both Ar and AR+ES were asphyxiated with < 2% 02 (air displaced by argon) for 2.5 min. ES and AR+ES carcasses were stimulated (45OV, .45A, AC, 6OHz, 2 s on/I s off for 15 s) after bleeding. Breast fillets were harvested at I h postmortem for all treatments or at I and 6 h postmortem for the control carcasses. Fillets were sampled for pH and R-value analyses and were then individually quick frozen (IQF) or aged on ice (AOI) until 24 h postmortem. Color was measured in the AOI fillets at 24 h postmortem. All fillets were then cooked and evaluated for shear value. The Ar treatment accelerated the normal decline in muscle pH while the ES and AR+ES treatments yielded even lower pH values at 1 h postmortem and were not significantly different from each other. The AR+ES treatment had a greater R-value than the ES treatment, which was greater than either the Ar or 1 h controls, which were not different from each other. The ES treatment had the lowest L* value and ES, Ar, and AR+ES produced significantly higher a* values than the I h controls. In both the IQF and AOI fillets, the ES and AR+ES treatments were not different in shear value, but were lower than Ar, which was lower than the I h controls. These results indicated that while ES and Ar had rigor-accelerating and tenderizing effects, ES seemed to be more effective than Ar and there was little enhanced effect when Ar was combined with ES.