Poultry colour stability points to post-mortem muscle biology

Colour stability in chicken breast cannot be explained by pH, pigments and oxygen alone. A new paper identifies evidence of ferroptosis in the Pectoralis major muscle of yellow-feathered broilers during the post-mortem period. Ferroptosis is a form of cell damage associated with iron-dependent lipid oxidation. The study observed increased membrane-lipid oxidation alongside changes in antioxidant-system markers and mitochondrial structure.

This is not a direct plant recommendation, but a mechanistic contribution. Its relevance is that it connects the visible appearance of a fillet with processes beginning in muscle after slaughter. If the mechanism is confirmed under more production conditions and across genetic lines, colour and shelf-life management may need a wider approach than measurements of lightness and surface colour alone.

For practice, the work reinforces the need to consider chilling, time before cutting, oxygen exposure, fat handling and oxidative load together. Colour defects should not be analysed only at the end of the chain, once product is packed. Process data and quality samples should make it possible to trace when post-mortem development began to deviate.