Dielectric and physicochemical characterization of Creole chicken breast meat for quality classification in the radiofrequency range

Abstract

Understanding the quality attributes of poultry meat is essential for food safety, consumer satisfaction, and value chain efficiency. This study presents a proof-of-concept assessment of the physicochemical and dielectric properties of Creole chicken breast meat to classify samples into three quality categories: PSE (pale, soft, exudative), RFN (reddish, firm, non-exudative), and DFD (dark, firm, dry). A total of 96 samples were classified using pH at 24 h postmortem, yielding 3.13% PSE, 54.17% RFN, and 42.70% DFD. Dielectric spectroscopy in the 20 Hz to 1 MHz range revealed group-dependent spectral differences, most notably between 40 Hz and 2 kHz, where DFD meat showed higher ϵ′ and ϵ′′ values under the evaluated conditions. The dielectric response was modeled using a two-dispersion approach, identifying α and β relaxation processes and differences in the α-relaxation frequency across categories (0.148 kHz for DFD, 0.105 kHz for RFN, and 0.127 kHz for PSE). Given the single-source sampling and the strong class imbalance, particularly the limited number of PSE samples, the findings should be interpreted as preliminary. Nevertheless, the results suggest that low-frequency dielectric parameters may be explored as candidates for rapid, non-destructive screening of meat quality categories, and they provide a reproducible workflow that can guide future validation studies and sensor-oriented designs in small-scale poultry production systems.