Heating temperatures affect meat quality and vibrational spectroscopic properties of slow- and fast-growing chickens.

This study determined the effect of water bath cooking (70°C and 90°C for 40 min) and the extreme heat treatment by an autoclave (121°C for 40 min) on the quality of breast meat of a fast-growing chicken, commercial broiler (CB), and slow-growing chickens, Korat chicken (KC), and Thai native chicken (NC) (Leung Hang Khao), by vibrational spectroscopic techniques, including synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy and Fourier transform Raman (FT-Raman) spectroscopy. Taste-enhancing compounds, including inosine-5'-monophosphate (IMP) and guanosine-5'-monophosphate (GMP), were better retained in cooked KC and NC meats than in cooked CB meat (P < 0.05). The high heat treatment at 121°C depleted the amount of insoluble collagen in all breeds (P < 0.05). Shear force values of slow-growing chicken meat were not affected by high heating temperatures (P > 0.05). In addition, the high heat treatment increased protein carbonyl (P < 0.05), while no effect on in vitro protein digestibility (P > 0.05). SR-FTIR microspectroscopy performed better in differentiating the meat quality of different chicken breeds, whereas FT-Raman spectroscopy clearly revealed differences in meat qualities induced by heating temperature. Based on principal component analysis (PCA), distinct characteristics of chicken meat cooked at 70°C were high water-holding capacity, lightness (L*), moisture content, and predominant α-helix structure, correlating with Raman spectra at 3,217 cm (O-H stretching of water) and 1,651 cm (amide I; α-helix). The high heating temperature at 90°C and 121°C exposed protein structure to a greater extent, as evidenced by an increase in β-sheets, which was well correlated with the Raman spectra at 2,968 and 2,893 cm (C-H stretching), tryptophan (880 cm), tyrosine (858 cm), and 1,042, 1,020, and 990 cm (C-C stretching; β-sheet). SR-FTIR and FT-Raman spectroscopy show potential for differentiation of chicken meat quality with respect to breeds and cooking temperatures. The marked differences in wavenumbers would be beneficial as markers for determining the quality of cooked meats from slow- and fast-growing chickens.