Effect of different ingredients on color and oxidative characteristics of high pressure processed chicken breast meat with special emphasis on use of β-glucan as a partial salt replacer

Color characteristics and oxidative stability of high pressure processed chicken breast meat were studied as a function of various added ingredients such as sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) and β-glucan (BG). There was an increase in L* value and a decrease in a* value for samples with increase in applied pressure. The additives had little impact on color characteristics in most of the combinations studied. At 40 °C and 600 MPa pressure, expressible moisture of all the samples were not statistically different. SDS PAGE profile of sarcoplasmic proteins revealed a decrease in number of bands in high molecular weight region and an increase in low molecular weight region with increase in applied pressure. Simultaneous application of high pressure and temperature cause breakdown of myosin into its subunits. Carbonyl content of BG samples was lower while treating at 60 °C. Samples with β-glucan showed significantly lower lipid oxidation levels.Industrial relevancePreparation of ready to eat gel-type meat products using temperature assisted high pressure processing is still not commercialized. This is basically due to lack of information on the chemistry of food undergoing this process. Increased salt content in modern convenient foods is a major drawback. The results of this experiment showed that high pressure processing and addition of β-glucan can help to partially replace salt addition. In addition, anti-oxidative property of β-glucan in meat system was revealed. This information will help industry to adopt temperature assisted high pressure processing to prepare ready to eat chicken products.

Research highlights
► Pressure caused increase in L* (lightness) values of chicken breast meat.
► Addition of β-glucan didn't affect the color characteristics of chicken breast meat.
► Samples with β-glucan showed significantly lower lipid oxidation levels.