Relationship of Selected Quality Characteristics and the Cholesterol and Sodium Content of Turkey

Abstract

Turkey breast roasts (pectoralis major muscles) were heated in three oven types to one of two internal endpoint temperatures. The relationship of cook time and rate, cook losses, proximate analysis, fat content of the cook drip, and percent cholesterol in the cook drip with the cholesterol and sodium content of the tissue was studied. On a wet-weight basis, the cholesterol content of the cooked turkey was not significantly correlated to either the fat content or the moisture content. Drip loss and total cook loss were positively correlated with cholesterol content. On a dry-weight basis, sodium content was significantly correlated with evaporative loss and total cooking loss.