Ultrasound application and electrolyzed water combination improve the microbial quality and textural parameters of chicken breast meats
Die Kombination aus Ultraschallanwendung und elektrolysiertem Wasser verbessert die mikrobiologische Qualität und die texturellen Parameter von Hähnchenbrustfleisch
Ali Samet Babaog˘ lu
Department of Food Engineering
Agriculture Faculty
Selçuk University
42050, Konya
Turkey
asmtbb@gmail.com
The combined effects of ultrasound application and dipping in electrolyzed water on quality and shelf life of the refrigerated chicken breast meats were investigated during refrigerated storage (4 °C) for 7 days. The chicken breast meats were dipped in tap water (TW – pH 8.0), acidic electrolyzed water (AW – pH 2.1) and basic electrolyzed water (BW – pH 11.4) and then treated with different durations of ultrasound application as 0, 15 and 30 min (24 kHz and power intensity of 400 W/cm2). The samples were immersed in the waters at room temperature for total 30 min. Microbiological, physicochemical (pH, WHC, TBA, color), sensory and textural parameters (MORSF and MORSE) were determined for 1, 4 and 7 days. While AW treatment increased the TBA values, ultrasound application significantly (p<0.05) inhibited lipid oxidation. The lowest psychrophilic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and Salmonella spp.counts were observed in the group of U1-AW during the storage days (p<0.05). The group of U3-AW had the lowest counts of Pseudomonas spp. on day 7 (p<0.05). The 30 min ultrasound application increased the tenderness of the samples (p<0.05). The combination of ultrasound and acidic electrolyzed water treatment could be recommended owing to its reduction effect on microbial counts and owing to the fact that it has no negative changes regarding lipid oxidation and color parameters of the chicken breast meats.