Composition of Drainage from Thawed Poultry Carcasses

Frozen turkeys, baking hens, broilers, and Rock Cornish Game hens, processed and frozen commercially, were purchased from a local wholesaler. The turkey hens were 24 weeks old, the baking hens were 21 months, broilers 8 weeks, and Rock Cornish Game hens 5 weeks. The frozen carcasses were thawed overnight and the drainage collected, weighted, and analyzed. Both the birds and containers were well covered with aluminum foil to minimize evaporation. The total fluid loss from the thawed birds ranged from 3.7% of the carcass weight of turkeys to 7.1% of the total weight of Rock Cornish Game hens. Drainage from various classes contained from 4.0 up to 6.6% solids. Protein in the drainage ranged from 3.6 to 5.2%. Fat content in the drained fluids was highest (0.15%) from turkey hens and lowest (.10%) from baking hens. Ash content in the drainage was highest from the youngest birds (the Cornish hens) and lowest from turkey hens. Mineral analysis of the drainage showed that K and Ca in the ash remained constant for all classes of poultry. In the drainage from chickens, there was significantly more Fe from older birds but more Cu and Zn from younger birds. Amino acid analysis of the drainage revealed a greater loss of essential amino acids from older birds. Drainage from turkeys contained less tryptophan than drainage from chickens. Tyrosine was nearly absent in drainage from broilers.