Effect of Sodium Chloride on the Properties of Ready‐to‐Eat Pressure‐Induced Gel‐Type Chicken Meat Products

Pressurized meat foods are increasingly being accepted by consumers nowadays. Unlike in thermal processing, the salt content required for pressure‐induced gelation of muscle proteins is not clear. Sodium chloride levels of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2 and 1.4% were used to prepare ready‐to‐eat chicken breast meat products in an attempt to find the minimum amount of salt necessary for pressure‐induced gels treated by 600 MPa at 40C for 5 min, while maintaining suitable physicochemical and functional properties. With the salt content increasing, values of lightness and whiteness increased (P < 0.05), redness and yellowness decreased (P < 0.05), water loss decreased (P < 0.05), textural properties such as hardness and chewiness were substantially augmented (P < 0.05), and cohesiveness and resilience were improved (P < 0.05). Three‐dimensional network structure was well formed with salt content of more than 1.2%. These changes in functional properties could be explained by the gel microstructures and transformations among the secondary structure fractions of proteins (P < 0.05). Increasing salt content had no effect on products' appearance (P > 0.05), but significantly influenced flavor, firmness and juiciness (P < 0.05). 1.2% sodium chloride content was the minimum salt addition for general acceptability. These results, which serve as a helpful guide for industrial production, indicate that a minimum of 1.2% sodium chloride should be added for pressure‐induced meat products. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Processing parameters should be optimized in response to the growing market share of pressurized meat products. A high pressure of 600 MPa has a significant potential to produce ready‐to‐eat meat products, but the amount of sodium chloride needed for this application has not been identified. The present study focused on pressurized chicken breast meat with different concentrations of sodium chloride for comparing the physicochemical and textural properties. The information presented in this paper could help the industry to manufacture low‐salt ready‐to‐eat meat products by one‐step high‐pressure processing.