PubMed1995
Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of constant amperage (as opposed to constant voltage) electrical stunning on broiler blood loss, post-mortem breast muscle (Pectoralis major) rigor development, and breast meat quality. Broilers were individually stunned for 5 s at 0 (unstunned control group), 50, 100, 150, and 200 mA in Experiment 1 and at 0, 50, and 125 mA in Experiment 2. Breast muscle pH and R-value (ratio of adenosine to inosine nucleotides) were determined at 15 min and 24 h post-mortem; breast meat shear value and color were determined at 48 h post-mortem. Stunning amperage had no effect on percentage blood loss in either experiment. The most rapid post-mortem reactions were observed for the unstunned control group as determined by pH and R-value at 15 min post-mortem. Birds stunned with 50 mA were intermediate with regard to rate of rigor development. The slowest post-mortem reactions occurred in broilers stunned from 100 to 200 mA. There were no differences in pH, R-value, or color between stunning treatments after carcasses were aged for 24 h. Stunning amperage did not affect Allo-Kramer shear value for breast muscles deboned at 15 min post-mortem. In Experiment 2, 24 h aged breast meat from broilers stunned with 125 mA required significantly higher shear value (4.5 kg/g) than breast meat from broilers stunned at 0 or 50 mA (3.8 and 3.6 kg/g, respectively). Results indicate that stunning amperages between 0 and 200 mA had effects on the rate of early rigor development but there were no consistent effects on final breast meat quality.