To promote the use of the spent hen meat as a cheeper meat source, the difference of the changes in the tenderness, water holding capacity and protein extractability between broiler and spent hen muscles during storage was investigated.
The pass of two stages, rigor mortis and thaw rigor as measured by penetrometer, was observed clearly in the broiler muscle compared with the spent hen muscle, and maximal rigor was observed within 2-4 hr after slaughter. The difference in the tenderness between broiler and spent hen muscles was also detected from the penetrometer readings.
The water holding capacity of the raw broiler and spent hen meats decreased rapidly after death, reached to minimum at about 6 hr after death and was recovered with the progress of the storage. The same tendency was observed in the cooked broiler meat, but the decrease in the water holding capacity with the progress of rigor mortis was not observed in the cooked spent hen meat. The degree of the changes in the water holding capacity of the spent hen meat was less than that of the broiler meat, irrespective of cooking or uncooking.
The amounts of extracted sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins from the broiler muscle decreased till about 6 hr after death and after that, increased with the progress of the storage. On the other hand, the extractability of the sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins from thespent hen muscle increased gradually after death, and the decrease in the extractability as observed in the broiler muscle was not observed.
