Quality characteristics of frozen broiler breast meat pretreated with increasing concentrations of sodium chloride

A study was conducted in order to investigate quality traits and sensory properties of frozen broiler breast meat pretreated with increasing concentration (from 0 to 2%) of sodium chloric (salt). Meat samples were obtained in a single major commercial processing plant from a homogenous flock of chicken broilers (Cobb strain, 44 days-old, mixed sex, average live weight of 2.55kg). Whole breasts were collected at random immediately after chilling and fillets (P. major muscles) were deboned by hand. A total of 12 groups of fillets were subsequently salted by hand with 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0% of sodium chloride, packaged in bags, quickly frozen in the processing plant and stored at - 24degC for 3 months. Prior to analysis, fillets were thawed at 2-4degC for 72 h and 12 fillets per group were used to determine chemical-physical characteristics (pH, colour, and sodium chloride content), functional properties (drip loss, cooking loss on raw and minced meat, AK-shear force, TBARS analysis) and sensory traits (level of tenderness, level of juiciness and overall liking). The addition of salt determined significant modifications of overall chemico-physical traits of the meat with special regards to pH, colour, water holding capacity and texture. Increased levels of salt determined a higher pH, darker colour, superior water holding capacity (assessed by drip and cooking losses), and higher tenderness (lower AK-shear values). The maximum improvement of water holding capacity was observed for salt level higher than 1.2%. Inclusion of salt up to 2% did not exert a negative effect on lipid peroxidation. Sensory test evidenced higher scores of overall preference of meat starting from 0.8% salt concentration; highest scores of tenderness, juiciness and overall preference in meat samples with high salt content (1.6 and 2.0% groups) were observed.