Binding and Water Retention Properties of Light and Dark Chicken Meat

FRONING (1965, 1966) reported improved binding of chicken meat when polyphosphates, milk solids, and gelatin were used as binders. These studies also showed significant differences in carcasses with respect to binding ability thus indicating that meat source and composition influences cohesive attributes of fabricated products. The work of van den Berg et al. (1963) compared light and dark chicken meat with respect to cooking losses and salts lost during cooking. Higher cooking losses from dark meat were observed, and attributed to lower water content and salt binding ability in that tissue. Swanson et al. (1964) reviewed previous work and also noted that light meat had less cooking losses than dark meat. These studies point to the possible differences in cohesive properties of these two different types of meat. This study was initiated, therefore, to ascertain whether these differences would at all affect slice ability or textural attributes of poultry products.