Effects of regular and modified starches on cooked pale, soft, and exudative; normal; and dry, firm, and dark breast meat batters.

The effects of potato and tapioca starches (regular and modified) on the texture, yield, and microstructure of pale, soft, and exudative (PSE); normal; and dark, firm, and dry (DFD) chicken breast meats were studied. Cook yield and fracture force were higher in DFD than in normal and PSE meat. All starches significantly improved yield with modified tapioca showing the best results. Light microscopy showed even distribution and gelatinization of large potato starch granules and small tapioca granules. Addition of starches to the normal meat (46 < L* < 53, 5.9 < pH < 6.1) resulted in higher modulus of rigidity (G') values above 60 degrees C. During cooling, this trend continued as all starches provided significantly higher G' values compared with the control; regular and modified potato resulted in higher G' values than the tapioca starches. Overall, starch addition can compensate for part of the meat protein functionality lost in PSE meat.