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Title: Sensory descriptive Profiles of Air and Water Chilled Broiler Breast Fillets

Author
item Zhuang, Hong
item Savage, Elizabeth
item Smith, Douglas
item Berrang, Mark

Submitted to: Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2008
Publication Date: 7/20/2008
Citation: Zhuang, H., Savage, E.M., Smith, D.P., Berrang, M.E. 2008. Sensory descriptive Profiles of Air and Water Chilled Broiler Breast Fillets. Poultry Science Association Meeting Abstract. 87(Suppl1):38.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Air chilled chicken products are gaining popularity in the USA. It has been claimed that air chilling (AC) results in improved tenderness and flavor of broiler meat compared with water chilling (WC). However, there was lack of published sensory study results to support the claims. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of carcass chilling methods on sensory texture and flavor descriptive profiles of broiler breast fillets deboned at 4h postmortem. In each of four replications, 27 eviscerated broiler carcasses (6 weeks of age) were collected from a commercial processing line prior to chilling. After transport to the laboratory, one third of the carcasses were hot-boned (no chill), 1/3 chilled by water immersion (0.3C, 50 min) and 1/3 chilled by AC method (0.7C, 150 min). The WC and AC fillets were removed from the bone at 4h postmortem. Fillets were cooked to an endpoint temperature of 78-80C. The sensory properties were measured by 7-9 trained panelists using 0-15 point universal intensity scales (21 attributes). Our study shows that the average intensity scores of the 9 flavor attributes analyzed ranged from 0.9 to 4.0 and there were no significant differences between the three treatments. The average intensity scores of the 12 texture attributes ranged from 1.5 to 7.5 and there were no significant differences between the AC and WC fillets. The average intensity scores of the texture attributes, springiness, hardness, cohesiveness of mass, bolus size, rate of breakdown and chewiness were significantly higher in the hot-boned samples than those of either of the chilled samples, which were not different from each other. These results demonstrate that the AC method did not affect the sensory flavor and texture quality of chicken breast meat deboned 4h postmortem compared to the WC method.