Characteristics and composition of emulsion‐based functional low‐fat chicken meat balls fortified with dietary fiber sources

This study was conducted with the objective of fortifying emulsion‐based low‐fat chicken meat balls with dietary fiber sources and studying their characteristics and composition. Three experiments were conducted in which chicken meat balls were performed with the addition of pearl millet flour (PMF) and wheat flour (WF) combination in Experiment 1, with grape pomace powder (GPP) and pomegranate pomace powder (PPP) combination in Experiment 2, and with carrot pomace powder (CPP) and beetroot pomace powder (BPP) combination in Experiment 3 along with a control in each experiment and assessed for physicochemical and sensory characteristics. One best treatment from each experiment was selected based on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics, and the proximate composition of those treatments was assessed. Ether extract level was significantly (p ≤ .01) lower in the CPP–BPP treatment. Total ash was significantly (p ≤ .01) higher in the PMF–WF treatment. Insoluble fiber level was significantly (p ≤ .01) higher in GPP–PPP and CPP–BPP treatments. Inclusion of the fruit and vegetable sources had improved the fiber level, and inclusion of millets had enhanced the total ash content of the chicken meat balls. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Meat is protein‐rich food with high biological value containing various vitamins, minerals, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Since meat is devoid of dietary fiber, which is considered as its major disadvantage, adding dietary fiber sources to meat products would enhance the nutritional value of meat. At present, chicken meat is mostly preferred by the consumers due to its leanness and low cost, and hence developing a functional chicken meat product would be an apt choice. Utilization of the common sources that are used in the regular cuisine/diet would satisfy the consumers to accept the product without any hesitation. In this study, common food ingredients such as pearl millet, wheat, grape, pomegranate, carrot, and beetroot had been used as functional components to fortify the chicken meat balls.