Consumer attitudes and preferences regarding pale, soft, and exudative broiler breast meat

SUMMARY The objective of this work was to assess the perceptions of Brazilian consumers regarding the color and drip loss of fresh pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) broiler breast fillet meat at the point of sale and subsequently in cooked samples, and to assess its acceptance by panelists. The abnormal fillet samples (PSE meat) were characterized by pH 5.61 and a lightness (L*) value of 59.26, compared with control samples with pH 5.96 and an L* value of 49.24, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). In addition, the water-holding capacity of control samples was 14.50% higher, cooking loss was 30.92% lower, and shear force was 65.41% lower than those values in the PSE samples. The PSE samples were identified by consumers as paler, and consumers preferred the control samples. Among the attributes of cooked samples, such as tenderness, flavor, and juiciness, only flavor was significantly different (P ≤ 0.05), and control samples had higher consumer acceptance values (P ≤ 0.05).