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Effects of pre‐slaughter showering and ventilation on stress, meat quality and metabolite concentrations of broilers in summer
Author(s) -
Jiang Nannan,
Xing Tong,
Xu Xinglian
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/asj.12419
Subject(s) - ventilation (architecture) , creatine kinase , zoology , lactate dehydrogenase , glycogen , creatine , broiler , chemistry , significant difference , medicine , biology , biochemistry , mechanical engineering , engineering , enzyme
Effects of pre‐slaughter showering and ventilation on stress, meat quality and energy metabolism of broilers in summer were investigated. After transport, 84 Arbor Acres broilers were randomly divided into four treatment groups: (i) control group without ventilation and showering (C); (ii) 10 min ventilation without showering (VWS); (iii) 10 min showering without ventilation (SWV); (iv) 5 min showering and then 5 min ventilation (SV). Compared with the control group, plasma lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase activities in the other three treatment groups were ( P < 0.05) lower; however, the plasma glucose level did not show any significant changes among all the groups. The breast meat in the SV group had significantly ( P < 0.05) higher pH u , glycogen content, lower L*, ΔpH, drip loss, cook loss, R‐value and lactate content than the control group; however, there was no significant difference in shear force values among all the groups. In conclusion, this study indicated broilers in the SV group showed a lower stress level and greater meat quality, which suggest that showering and ventilation after transportation may be a good measure to relieve stress caused by transport under high temperature and improve the meat quality of broilers.