Colour distribution of mature turkey hen breast meat was evaluated during the year in 7 commercial flocks (100 samples/flock) to assess the occurrence of the pale soft and exudative (PSE) problem. Evaluation was done on the processing line 24 h post mortem. 2. In addition, 10 selected samples/flock were analysed for pH, water holding capacity (WHC), and texture. The average L* value (lightness) was 48.9 with a variance of 15.3, skewness of 0.16, and kurtosis of 0.17. Minimum and maximum L* values recorded during the study were 37.7 and 58.5, respectively. 3. The pH ranged from 5.68 to 6.64 (mean 5.96), WHC ranged from 7 to 102% (mean 41%), and gel strength for the cooked samples ranged from 30 to 54 N (mean 44 N). 4. Correlations between colour and WHC indicated the potential use of a fast colour measurement to identify PSE meat. 5. Breast muscle samples with L* > or = 52 exhibited poor WHC. When this value was used as a cut off point for identifying PSE meat, the lowest incident observed was 5% and the highest was 40%.
