Abstract
It is known that the amount and structure of collagen in the connective tissue are major factors determining the textural quality of meat. However, there are few reports examining the structural changes in collagen observed under actual cooking and the association with meat textural properties. In the present study, chicken wing sticks were precooked in a cook-chill system using a cooking pan or a vacuum package. Samples were evaluated for quantitative and structural changes in collagen during the precooking and reheating process in order to examine the effects of these changes on the textural properties and other parameters of the chicken.
The results indicated that the skin-free part of the chicken wing sticks heated in the vacuum package, with and without reheating, contained higher amounts of total collagen, insoluble collagen (ISC), glyceride, and moisture than those heated in a cooking pan. Sensory evaluation showed that the chicken wing sticks were more juicy and elastic when precooked in the vacuum package than in the cooking pan, and the samples precooked in the vacuum package received a higher rating for overall palatability when reheated than when non-reheated. Furthermore, since the amount of seasoning solution required in the vacuum package was markedly lower than that in the cooking pan, this likely resulted in a slower structural loosening of contracted collagen molecules and the observed retention of ISC content in the vacuum packaged chicken wing sticks.
