Development of a non-destructive detection system of Deep Pectoral Myopathy in poultry by dielectric spectroscopy

Abstract

[EN] The trend in meat consumption has changed drastically in the last years, mainly due to the relationship of red and processed meats with cancer and cardiovascular diseases, which has caused a substantial growth in poultry meat consumption, 8% in 2016. Therefore, poultry production has suffered an intensification that has led to an increase in the incidence of internal malformations in chickens and turkeys for fattening, especially in the pectoral muscles, as Deep Pectoral Myopathy (DPM). Currently, industry is not able to detect DPM breasts when sold as whole carcasses. In this context, the use of dielectric spectroscopy, complemented by a deep study of the chemical, biochemical and microstructural transformations of the muscle and the effect that these changes have on the electrical dispersions in radiofrequency range, may become feasible for online DPM detection. For this paper, non-damaged and affected by DPM chicken breasts (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor) was analysed. Permittivity in radiofrequency and microwave ranges were measured in the different tissues: pectoralis minor, major and skin in order to characterize them. Moreover, proteins content, ion content and pH were measured. With this data, a sensor for measuring the permittivity of chicken whole carcass with skin was developed; it consists of two pairs of two flat plates sensor connected to an impedance Agilent analyzer 4294A and can measure the permittivity from 40 Hz to 1 MHz. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the permittivity in radiofrequency range as an potential identification technique of chicken breasts affected by DPM.