German
English
Friday, February 10, 2012
Abstracts from 
Fleischwirtschaft 90 (6), S. 96-99, 2010
Studies on the water-to-protein ratio in chicken and turkey legs
Gisela Hahn, Michael Judas, Manfred Spindler und Wolfgang Branscheid
water-to-protein ratio | chicken | turkey | parts | leg | physiological water content | extraneous water
(original article is only in German language available)
Marketing rules for poultry regulate to determine the water-to-protein ratio (W/P) as an indicator of technically unavoidable extraneous water uptake during the production process. For parts of chicken and turkey, limiting values are defined based on an EU-wide study in 1993. These limiting values are derived from the physiological W/P, the so-called Federzahl (Feder's number). The objectives of the study were to determine the effect of analytic methods (inclusive or exclusive of bones), and to compare the physiological W/P ratios of poultry parts produced in Germany in 1993 and 2007. Material for analysis
was restricted to representative and commercially relevant parts, namely to chicken legs and turkey thighs. Slaughter techniques, with their different methods of scalding and chilling, did not significantly affect W/P. In chicken legs, W/P varied with genetic line and with age. Overall, deboning of parts systematically increased W/P. Average
physiological W/P of chicken legs increased from 1993 to 2007 by 0.26, which raises the probability that limiting values are violated during official controls for extraneous water. For chicken, our study indicates a necessity to adjust the official limiting values. Also, as a
modification of analysis methods is wanted, this would necessitate an appropriate adjustment of limiting values, too.
Authors' address
Dr. Gisela Hahn, Dr. Michael Judas, Manfred Spindler und Dr. Wolfgang Branscheid, Max-
Rubner-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ernährung und Lebensmittel, E.-C.-Baumann-Straße 20, 95326 Kulmbach
Marketing rules for poultry regulate to determine the water-to-protein ratio (W/P) as an indicator of technically unavoidable extraneous water uptake during the production process. For parts of chicken and turkey, limiting values are defined based on an EU-wide study in 1993. These limiting values are derived from the physiological W/P, the so-called Federzahl (Feder's number). The objectives of the study were to determine the effect of analytic methods (inclusive or exclusive of bones), and to compare the physiological W/P ratios of poultry parts produced in Germany in 1993 and 2007. Material for analysis
was restricted to representative and commercially relevant parts, namely to chicken legs and turkey thighs. Slaughter techniques, with their different methods of scalding and chilling, did not significantly affect W/P. In chicken legs, W/P varied with genetic line and with age. Overall, deboning of parts systematically increased W/P. Average
physiological W/P of chicken legs increased from 1993 to 2007 by 0.26, which raises the probability that limiting values are violated during official controls for extraneous water. For chicken, our study indicates a necessity to adjust the official limiting values. Also, as a
modification of analysis methods is wanted, this would necessitate an appropriate adjustment of limiting values, too.
Authors' address
Dr. Gisela Hahn, Dr. Michael Judas, Manfred Spindler und Dr. Wolfgang Branscheid, Max-
Rubner-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ernährung und Lebensmittel, E.-C.-Baumann-Straße 20, 95326 Kulmbach
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