Glycolysis Rate Delay in Turkey Breast Pectoralis major m. in a Commercial Air Chilling Processing Line and Meat Qualities

The development of Rigor mortis (RM) in Turkey Pectoralis major under routine commercial plant conditions was described. Carcass samples (n = 40) were refrigerated by air chill (AC) in a processing line and the final temperature (T) of 4 degrees Celsius was reached after 7 h Postmortem (PM) and the ultimate pH (pHu) of 5.68 was achieved after 24 h PM. For results comparison, carcasses were kept at ambient temperature (AT), averaging 20 plus or minus 2 degrees Celsius and the pHu of 5.67 was reached after 5 h PM. The AC samples presented darker and higher water holding capacity values compared to AT samples after 10 h PM while at 24 h PM these results did not differ between delay and fast glycolysis. Finally, the rate of glycolysis was directly affected by air refrigeration and the fillet samples should be processed at 24 h PM to ensure complete RM onset thus preventing the decrease of meat qualities.