Texture profiles and palatability of salad chicken

Abstract

Salad chicken is a processed chicken breast that is lightly seasoned and has a soft texture. In this study, we investigated the awareness, the frequency of eating, etc. of salad chicken. In addition, assuming cooking at home, we prepared salad chicken with seasoning that are always available at home and can be expected to have a softening effect on meat. Samples were compared by physical property measurement and sensory evaluation.

From June to October 2019, we asked 37 questions, for example, awareness, palatability, experience cooking at home of salad chicken for university students. In the experiment, 4 types of samples were prepared by adding 2 % sugar, 2 % water, and 0.7 % salt to weight of chicken breast as standard, and adding soy sauce, sake, or vinegar. The seasoning was added so as not to change the salt concentration and the water content. For heating, we used the rice cooker, which makes it easy to control the temperature. Physical properties and palatability were evaluated by Creep Meter and sensory evaluation.

From the questionnaire survey, it was found that salad chicken was widely recognized and was a food that was eaten with health in mind, such as “high protein” and “low calorie”. Only 22 % of people had handmade it at home. The soy sauce added sample had the lowest drip rate calculated from the weight before and after heating, that is, the highest water retention capacity. The standard sample had the lowest rupture energy and is the softest sample in the sensory evaluation by the experimenters. That was shown that no softening effect was observed with addition of seasonings, but it was found that the odor of chicken could be reduced. Sensory evaluation by the consumer panel revealed that the goodness of handmade salad chicken, which is simple and inexpensive, is more accepted than commercial products.