Wooden Breast Syndrome

 

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered:

• About Wooden Breast Syndrome
• About Broiler Chicken
• What affects broiler chickens?

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News Flash:

Broiler and desi chicken will identify countless points of difference. Broiler chicken can sometimes be hard to chew. Now, researchers believe they have found the reason which is a condition called wooden breast syndrome.

 

Broiler Chicken

A broiler is any chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and seven weeks of age. Typical broilers have white feathers and yellowish skin.

 

Wooden breast syndrome

The wooden breast syndrome is a metabolic disorder characterised by abnormal fat accumulation in the breast muscle tissue of broiler chicken. When it affects broiler chickens, it makes the meat hard and chewy.

 

What affects broiler chickens?

• The condition is called wooden breast syndrome. When it affects broiler chickens, it makes the meat hard and chewy.
• It is a costly problem that can render the birds unmarketable and cause losses for growers.
• The first stage of the condition involves inflammation of the veins in the breast tissue and accumulation of lipid around the affected veins. Over time, this is followed by muscle cell death and replacement by fibrous and fatty tissue.
• This was found during previous research from the University of Delaware, which also carried out the new study identifying the cause of the condition.

 

The fat and the enzyme

• The researchers identified an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase as likely to contribute to wooden breast syndrome in broiler chickens. Lipase is crucial for fat metabolism.
• Researchers arrived at this conclusion by studying irregularities in gene expression, the process by which information from a gene is used in the creation of products such as proteins.
• At the onset of wooden breast syndrome, they found, the expression of lipoprotein lipase was higher in affected chickens, leading to more fat accumulating in the breast muscles. This is an irregularity because breast muscle fibres in chicken typically rely on sugar molecules for fuel, not fat molecules.

 

Significance of the studies for humans

The study suggested that the research also could inform human health research on metabolic syndromes, such as diabetes and atherosclerosis, which is associated with fatty deposits in the arteries.

From the other perspective, the team is now combing literature for treating diabetes to see if there are ways to apply similar approaches to help broiler chickens avoid — or cope — with wooden breast syndrome.

 

 

Source: Indian Express

 

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