Correlation between some quality parameters and bleeding status of poultry meat

A study was undertaken to investigate the effect of two different slaughter methods i. e traditional method (unilateral neck cut) and decapitation on the colour, pH, total heme pigments (THP) and water holding capacity (WHC) of the poultry meat. Fresh drumsticks (30 from conventionally slaughtered and 30 from slaughtered by decapitation method) of broiler birds (6 weeks of age; 2 hrs postmortem) were procured from retail meat shops located in different regions of the Ludhiana, Punjab, India. L* value (53.55) of conventionally slaughtered meat samples was significantly (P<0.01) higher than the decapitation method (47.97) but a* and b* values for conventionally slaughtered samples (7.86 and 12.62, respectively) were significantly (P<0.01) lower than the decapitated samples (11.42 and 15.90, respectively). These effects were due to the fact that the decapitated birds lost the least amount of blood compared to the conventionally slaughtered birds. pH of the conventionally slaughtered meat samples (6.02) were significantly (P<0.01) lower than the decapitated meat samples (6.32). The mean total heme pigments were significantly (P<0.01) higher in decapitated meat samples (2.20 mg/gm of meat sample) than the conventionally slaughtered meat samples (1.84 mg/gm of meat sample). Similarly WHC was significantly (P<0.01) higher of decapitated meat samples (52.91%) than the conventionally slaughtered meat samples (43.18%). Malachite Green test in 86.36% conventionally slaughtered meat samples showed perfect bleeding and 100% decapitated meat samples showed imperfect bleeding.