An Overview of Poultry Meat Quality and Myopathies

Abstract

The increased demand for poultry meat and the shift toward portioned and further processed products has been accompanied by genetic improvement and progress in nutrition and management to increase growth rates and improve feed efficiency. Animal protein continues to be the most demanded and expensive protein source worldwide. Poultry is an animal protein commonly accepted among different faith groups and relatively more affordable than other animal protein sources. In addition, poultry meat has lower fat, cholesterol, and sodium content compared to red meat. This review aims at summarizing the available information about skeletal muscle structure, conversion of muscle to meat and how it affects poultry meat quality, the different myopathies historically been identified and other emerging myopathies, then discussing how meat quality affects consumer perception and consumption trends, and finally discussing few of the proposed solutions to overcome the issues of decreased meat quality, including nutritional strategies.