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PROCESSING AND PRODUCTS A Comparison of High Current and Low Voltage Electrical Stunning Systems on Broiler Breast Rigor

Development and Meat Quality


E. W. CRAIG and D. L. FLETCHER1 Department of Poultry Science, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2772 ABSTRACT Experiments were conducted to compare the effects of a high current (HC) stunning system to a low voltage (LV) stunning system on broiler carcass and meat quality. A total of 360 broiler chickens were individually stunned using either 125 mA, 50 Hz, constant AC for 5 s (HC) or using 10.5 V, 500 Hz pulsed DC for 10 s (LV). Birds were individually weighed, killed by conventional neck cut, bled for 150 s, and reweighed to determine blood loss. Breast fillets (Pectoralis major) were removed from the carcass immediately after picking (0 h) or after aging for 24 h in a static ice-water slush. Breast muscle pH was determined at both 0 and 24 h. Raw breast meat color (CIELAB) and cooked breast meat Allo-Kramer shear values were determined on samples held at 2 C for 48 h. The LV stunning treatment significantly increased (P < 0.05) blood loss (4.0 vs 3.7%) and significantly reduced initial muscle pH (6.47 vs 6.67) when compared to the HC stunning treatment. There were no significant differences between the stunning systems for 24 h pH, raw breast color, and Allo-Kramer shear. High current stunning reduced initial blood loss and delayed early rigor development compared to the LV treatment, but appeared to have little effect on final meat quality.

(Key words: electrical stunning, blood loss, pH, shear) 1997 Poultry Science 76:11781181

INTRODUCTION
Various forms of stunning, ranging from a physical blow to the head to more recently developed gas immersion systems, have been used in animal slaughter. The primary functions of stunning are to render the animal unconscious for easier handling during slaughter and to render the animal insensible to pain. The use of electrical stunning is common in both the red meat and poultry processing industries. Electrical stunning systems in poultry were initially developed for the purpose of temporarily immobilizing birds to insure consistent presentation of the bird to automated neck cutting machines. Electrical stunning also decreases involuntary bird movement during the death struggle, decreasing carcass damage. In recent years, animal welfare has become an important issue, especially in many European countries, and concern over animal welfare has led to changes in the way electrical stunning is utilized. To render the bird instantaneously and irreversibly unconscious, high amperage stunning systems have been developed and are widely used in many of the countries of the European Union (EU). Gregory et al. (1991) reported that, as stunning amperages were increased from 60 to 110 mA, incidence of ventricular fibrillation increased from 20 to

Received for publication September 17, 1996. Accepted for publication March 31, 1997. 1To whom correspondence should be addressed.

99%. The increased incidence of ventricular fibrillation would result in birds not recovering consciousness following the electrical stunning process (i.e., the birds would actually die from the electrically induced fibrillation if not by the subsequent actual neck cutting and bleeding process). Although they render the bird unconscious, high current stunning systems are associated with increased carcass damage and meat defects. Veerkamp and de Vries (1983) found that, as stunning voltages increased, the incidence of red wing tips and tails increased. Similar results were observed in a series of studies by Gregory and Wilkins (1989a,b,c), who found that when ventricular fibrillation was induced in broilers during stunning, the incidence of red wing tips and hemorrhaging at the humerus-radius joint increased. The authors reported that breast muscle hemorrhaging in turkeys and broken bones in broilers increased as stunning amperage was increased. Walther (1991) reported that stunning-related carcass damage, such as broken bones, could be reduced if the stunner voltage was lowered. Electrical stunning has been associated with a decrease in carcass blood loss (Kotula and Helbacka, 1966; Kuenzel and Ingling, 1977; Schutt-Abraham et al., 1983; Veerkamp and de Vries, 1983; Murphy et al., 1988; Papinaho and Fletcher, 1995a), although some exceptions have also been reported (Heath et al., 1983; Griffiths et al., 1985; Dickens and Lyon, 1993). Recent research suggests that electrical stunning only affects the rate of early blood loss and has little effect on the

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ultimate carcass blood loss (Schutt-Abraham et al., 1983; Gregory and Wilkins, 1989d; Papinaho and Fletcher, 1995b). Breast meat tenderness, as measured by cooked meat shear values, has been shown to be affected by electrical stunning, although these effects seem to be minimal on final meat quality. To determine the effect of electrical stunning on rigor development and breast meat tenderness, Lee et al. (1979) compared unstunned control birds to electrically stunned birds. The authors reported that stunning decreased shear values by 30% on 24-h-old breasts. It was suggested that delaying rigor development until after spin chilling avoided the potential for heat shortening, thus resulting in improved meat tenderness. Papinaho and Fletcher (1996a) reported that stunning increased pH and decreased R-values until 6 h postmortem, after which no differences were observed between the stunned and unstunned controls. The authors concluded that stunning delayed the onset of rigor for 4 to 6 h, after which no stunning effects occurred. Research suggests that stunning amperage has a greater deleterious effect on breast muscle characteristics than voltage. As amperage is increased, breast muscle hemorrhaging and the incidence of broken bones increases in broilers (Gregory and Wilkins, 1989b). Increased amperages have also been shown to increase breast muscle hemorrhaging in turkeys (Gregory and Wilkins, 1989a). In the U.S., where high current stunning is not commonly used, the incidence of stunning-related defects appears to be lower. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a high current electrical stunning system (HC), as recommended for use in the EU, to a low voltage, high frequency electrical stunning system (LV) commonly used in the U.S. on broiler blood loss, broiler breast muscle rigor development, and breast meat quality.

MATERIALS AND METHODS


Four trials of 90 broilers each were used to determine the effect of low voltage and high current electrical stunning systems on rigor development and breast meat quality. Broiler chicks were obtained from a local hatchery at 1 d of age and were reared in floor pens under typical commercial conditions. Feed and water were supplied for ad libitum consumption for 6 wk. The birds were then subjected to an 8- to 12-h feed withdrawal period prior to slaughter. Water was provided for ad libitum consumption until the time of catching and transport. Birds were individually weighed, shackled, and randomly stunned using one of

2Simmons Engineering Co., Dallas, GA 30132. 3Minolta Corp., Ramsey, NJ 07446. 4Instron Model 1122, Instron Corp., Canton, MA

02021.

the following two stunning treatments: an HC stunner with a constant current of 125 mA, 50 Hz, AC, for 5 s or an LV stunner with a constant voltage of 11 V pulsating DC, 500 Hz, for 10 s (average of 5 to 6 mA per bird). The HC system was built specifically to simulate EU recommended stunning conditions. The LV system was a commercially available stunner (Simmons SF-7000)2 similar to those used in approximately 66% of the U.S. processing plants (Heath et al., 1994). Stunning treatments were applied to individual birds by placing the bird on the shackle, spraying the foot-shackle contact with a 1% saline solution, and lowering the shackle until the birds head came into contact with an electrical grid submerged 0.5 in below the surface of a 1% saline solution allowing the stunning current to pass through the bird from head to foot. Immediately after stunning, the broilers were killed using a unilateral neck cut that severed both the carotid artery and the jugular vein. Birds were bled for 150 s and reweighed. Blood loss was calculated by weight difference as a percentage of live body weight. Birds were scalded at 58 C for 2 min, then picked for 25 s in a rotary drum batch picker. Breast fillets (Pectoralis major) were removed from carcasses immediately after picking (0.25 h), or after aging 24 h in a static ice-water slush. Muscle samples were removed from one of the breast fillets for pH determination as described by Jeacocke (1977). The other fillet was held in a plastic bag for an additional 24 h at 2 C for raw meat color and cooked meat tenderness determinations. Color was measured in triplicate on the outside of the skinless breast fillets at the thick anterior region with a Minolta Chromameter II3 using illuminant C. Color values were expressed using the CIELAB method (L* = lightness, a* = redness, and b* = yellowness). Tenderness was evaluated using an Allo-Kramer shear cell on an Instron Universal Testing Machine4 according to the procedure described by Papinaho and Fletcher (1996a). The experimental model was based on a balanced incomplete block design similar to that described by Papinaho and Fletcher (1996b). In each trial, birds were processed in lots of six across the two stunning treatments and three sampling groups (0.25 h pH, 24 h pH, and 48 h color and textural analyses) with blocks (birds) of size two (randomized right and left breast fillets). Thus, within each lot of six birds, half of the birds were subjected to each stunning treatment such that, following blood loss, two of the six breasts from each stunning treatment were assigned to the three sampling groups within the balanced incomplete block design. In each trial of 90 birds, there were 15 lots of 6 birds each, supplying a total of 30 breast fillets per sampling group. All data were analyzed using the General Linear Models (GLM) procedure and means were separated using Tukeys studentized range test option of the GLM procedure of the SAS/STAT program (SAS Institute, 1988) using a significance level of P < 0.05. Because there were no significant trial by treatment interactions, the

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TABLE 1. The effect of high current stunning (HC) and low voltage stunning (LV) on percentage blood loss for broiler chickens bled for 150 s Stunning treatment HC LV P
1Mean

Blood loss1 (%) 3.7 0.05 4.0 0.05 0.0001 SEM.

n 178 179

data were combined across the four trials for analyses and presentation.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


The effect of HC and LV stunning on percentage blood loss for broiler chickens bled for 150 s is presented in Table 1. High current stunning significantly reduced blood loss (3.7%) when compared to LV stunning (4.0%) following a 150-s bleed time. These results are consistent with previous reports in which higher stunning amperages were associated with slower initial blood loss, but did not have an affect on ultimate blood loss (Schutt Abraham et al., 1983; Gregory and Wilkins, 1989d; Papinaho and Fletcher, 1995b). This difference may have implications relative to decreased blood collection in the blood tunnel and increased blood drainage and accumulation in the scald water. The results for pH, raw breast meat color, and cooked breast meat shear are presented in Table 2. High current stunning significantly increased 15 min post-mortem breast muscle pH (6.67) when compared to breast muscle pH from LV birds (6.47). These results are consistent with previous findings reported by Papinaho et al. (1995) and Papinaho and Fletcher (1996a), who compared high and low amperage stunning. Papinaho et al. (1995) reported that as stunning amperages increased, breast muscle pH increased and R-values decreased. Hence, there was a positive correlation between stun-

ning amperage and the delay of rigor. Papinaho and Fletcher (1996a) determined that high amperage stunning delayed rigor development for approximately 6 h when compared to unstunned controls or low amperage stunning. Birds stunned with 50 mA had lower breast muscle pH values and higher R-values than birds stunned with 125 mA (Papinaho et al., 1995; Papinaho and Fletcher, 1996a). Therefore, the rigor delaying effect of stunning is greater at higher amperages than at lower amperages. At 24 h post-mortem, there were no significant differences in breast muscle pH between the HC and LV birds. Other studies have also shown that different electrical stunning systems do not affect ultimate muscle pH (Thomson et al., 1986; Kim et al., 1988; Papinaho and Fletcher, 1995b; Papinaho et al., 1995). Stunning treatment did not significantly affect raw breast meat color (Table 2). Papinaho and Fletcher (1995b) also reported that stunning amperage did not affect breast meat color. Although stunning affects early post-mortem muscle pH, but not terminal muscle pH, and pH has been shown to have a marked influence on breast meat color (Boulianne and King, 1995), it is interesting that no effects were detected for stunning treatment. Hence, terminal muscle pH may have more influence on breast meat color than early post-mortem pH. The LV stun significantly reduced cooked breast meat shear value (2.9 kg/g) when compared with the HC stun (3.1 kg/g). Although significantly different, the magnitude of the difference is quite small, and both values would be considered tender (Lyon and Lyon, 1990). Therefore, the difference in breast meat tenderness due to stunning would probably not have negative commercial implications. High current stunning decreases initial blood loss and delays early rigor development as indicated by a significantly higher early post-mortem breast muscle pH compared to the LV stun, which is commonly used in the U.S.; however, there appears to be no substantial effect on final breast meat quality as measured by color or shear value. These results are consistent with

TABLE 2. The effect of high current stunning (HC) and low voltage stunning (LV) on broiler breast muscle pH, CIELAB color (lightness = L*, redness = a*, and yellowness = b*), and Allo-Kramer shear values (AK shear) Stunning treatment Measurement pH 15 min 24 h Color L* a* b* AK shear, kg/g HV x SEM 6.67 0.01 5.83 0.02 50.0 2.1 1.0 3.1 0.27 0.09 0.18 0.13 n 119 120 118 118 118 116 LV x SEM 6.47 0.01 5.82 0.01 50.0 2.1 1.0 2.9 0.26 0.10 0.18 0.10 n 120 119 120 120 120 120 0.0055 0.4997 0.2014 0.8528 0.4316 0.0193 P

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previous reports that compare high and low amperage stunning and the effect of electrical stunning on the suppression of peri-mortem muscular activity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported in part by state and Hatch funds allocated to the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station and by funds provided by The Southeastern Poultry and Egg Association (Research Project Number 179). Appreciation is extended to Simmons Engineering Company for equipment and technical support. The authors also wish to thank Gavin Poole and Reg Smith for their technical assistance.

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