Muscle Proteomic Approach to Characterize Biochemical Mechanisms Responsible for Woody Breast and Pale, Soft, and Exudative Conditions in Broilers

This multi-institutional grant proposal addresses USDA AFRI program area priority Improving Food Quality (Program Area Priority Code – A1361). As of 2016, woody breast and pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) meat are quality defects in poultry that affect 30-50 % of broilers that are harvested in the United States. PSE meat has an unacceptable appearance at retail display and is extremely dry. Woody breast meat is characterized by a hard, tough texture at the cranial and/or caudal portions of the breast. Results from our previous USDA AFRI Seed Grant demonstrated that the muscle proteomes of PSE and normal broiler breast meat were different and the abundance of numerous proteins was correlated with meat quality. Therefore, the objectives of the current proposal are – (1 and 2 ) to characterize biochemical pathways in live muscle, pre-rigor meat and post-rigor meat to explain the biochemical pathways associated with PSE meat development and woody breast meat and to elucidate mechanisms for the variations in whole-muscle proteomes in PSE and woody broiler breast meat compared to normal breast; (3) To evaluate biochemical and proteomic differences in genetic strains that produce woody breast meat to characterize the genetics and biochemical pathways that are consistent with the production of woody breast meat. Successfully characterizing the proteome basis and biochemical pathways of woody breast meat and PSE meat will aid engineering strategies to prevent the incidence of PSE and woody and improve poultry meat quality, ultimately enhancing the competitiveness of the US poultry industry.