Abstract
One of the major concerns during storage, distribution and retail display of meat and meat products is the minimum temperature for the growth of a microorganism. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of chilling period on oganoleptic and physico-chemical characteristics of broiler chicken meat. A total number of 24 chickens with average weights of between 1.5-2 kg were used for the study. The birds were slaughtered and randomly assigned into four treatments which were replicated thrice with two chickens per replicate. Treatment 1 represented chilling immediately after slaughter (control), treatment 2 represented delay for 2 hours before chilling, treatment 3were delayed for 4 hours before chilling, and treatment 4 were delayed for 6 hours before chilling. Data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance. Treatment group chilled at 0hr had significantly higher (P<0.05) crude protein composition of 48.59% compared to the other treatment groups(2 hrs, 4 hrs, and 6 hrs chilling interval) which had 45.94, 44.33 and 44.98% respectively. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in texture, flavor, aroma, general acceptability, pH, cooking loss and cooking yield across the treatments. The 0-hour chilled group was significantly (p<0.05) higher in terms of flavor, aroma and general acceptability and had significant (P<0.05) least cooking loss. It was therefore concluded that chicken meat should be chilled immediately after slaughter to prevent loss of value during cooking.
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