author(s)
D Prakash and R Prabakaran

abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of stress of transportation and holding periods before marketing on meat quality of broilers brought into urban areas from far off production points for marketing. The meat quality parameters like breast and thigh muscle pH, shear force value for tenderness and water holding capacity (WHC) were studied among broilers transported over long (>300 km) and short (100-200 km) distances and also during holding period. Distance of transport of broilers was found to influence shear force value significantly (P  0.01) and muscle pH (breast and thigh muscle) and WHC were not affected by the same. Comparatively, long distance transport of > 300 km resulted in less tender meat than short distance transport for 100-200 km. The live shrink loss (%) increased upto day-2 of holding and the birds were found to recoup body weight and reverse the trend after that. The breast muscle pH also rose upto day-2 and came down afterwards. The broiler meat was found to be the most tender on day-2 of holding, while WHC was the highest on day-4. Microbial quality of drinking water and litter at the holding pens were very poor. Long distance travel and holding periods before marketing influenced the meat qualities of the broilers.