Changes in the quality of chicken breast meat due to superchilling and temperature fluctuations during storage

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the changes in chicken breast meat quality (water-holding capacity, color, texture, my of ibrillar fragmentation index (MFI), total protein solubility, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), total viable count (TVC), and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count) due to storage under superchilling conditions (−1.3℃) and fluctuating temperatures (ranging from −20℃ to −5℃) as comparedto the quality of meat storedat chilled(2-4℃) andfrozen (−20℃) temperatures, respectively. Results indicatedthat the TVC andLAB count of the chilledandsuperchilledbreast meat increasedwith storage time. TVC of the chilledandsuperchilled breast meat reachedthe safety level of 7 log cfu/g at approximately day 8 and18, respectively. This suggestedthat the superchilling methodextendedthe storage duration by 10 days. Weight loss andTBARS of the chilledandsuper-chilledsamples tendedto increase with increasing storage time. The color, texture, protein solubility, andMFI were stable throughout the entire storage periodof the chilled(9 days) andsuperchilled(28 days) samples. Results indicatedthat while three cycles of storage temperature fluctuation influencedthe weight loss anddry matter of the meat, they didnot affect the TVC, LAB count, texture, color, pH, MFI, andprotein solubility. The superchilling technique (−1.3℃) couldextendthe shelf-life of meat andmaintain the quality of chicken breast meat. Fluctuations in temperature during frozen storage decreased the water-holding capacity of chicken breast meat, indicating that temperature stability shouldbe maintainedduring frozen storage.