Abstract
This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different chilling and packing methods on physico-chernical properties of cold-stored chicken breast and thigh meats. Dehoned chicken breast and thigh meats were chilled either air spray or ice-water immersion method. The chilled meats were either vacuum packed or atmosphere packed, and stored at -2˚C for 1, 3, 7, 11, 15, and 20 days. The pH of both immersion chilled meats and vacuum packed meats were higher than those of their counterparts(P<0.05). The pH of atmosphere packed meats increased as the storage period extended. The moisture contents of vacuum packed meats were remarkably higher than those of atmosphere packed meats. The pH of all treatments decreased as the storage period extended. The shear values of air spray chilled and vacuum packed breast meats were significantly higher than immersion chilled and vacuum packed ones. However, immersion chilled and atmosphere packed breast meats were significantly higher than those of air spray chilled and atmosphere packed breast meats. The shear values of immersion chilled and vacuum packed thigh meats were significantly higher than those of immersion chilled and vacuum packed thigh meats. In atmosphere packed thigh meats, air spray chilling method showed higher shear values than those of immersion chilled thigh meats. In thigh muscle, tenderness values tended to decrease as the storage period extended(P<0.05). Contents of water soluble proteins of vacuum packed and air spray chilled breast and thigh meats were higher than those of their counterparts as the storage period extended(P<0.05). The contents of water soluble proteins significantly decreased as the storage period extended. Salt soluble proteins of atmosphere packed breast and thigh meats were remarkably higher than those of vacuum packed ones(P<0.05). Total lipid contents of atmosphere packed and air spray chilled breast and thigh meats were higher than those of atmosphere packed and immersion chilled meats as the storage period extended. The vacuum packed meats were significantly higher in total lipid contents than those of atmosphere packed meats. The storage period decreased the total lipid contents of cold chicken, Major fatty acids in cold-stored chicken were oleic, palmitic, linoleic and stearic acids, regardless of chilling method. Unsaturated fatty acids of all treatments decreased, but saturated fatty acids increased as the storage period extended.