The two-stage air thawing based on low voltage electric field (LVEF) can make the quality of thawed chicken breast close to that before freezing

Abstract

Low voltage electric field (LVEF) thawing has been shown to be an effective method of thawing. In this study, chicken breast meat was thawed in a fixed electric field voltage (2.5 KV), and the thawing process was divided into two stages: stage Ⅰ (−20 °C to −5 °C) and stage Ⅱ (−5 °C to −1 °C). The effects of two-stage air thawing based on low voltage electric field (TLT) on the quality of chicken breast were investigated by altering the thawing temperature (T1 and T2) in two stages. The results showed that TLT could significantly (P＜0.05) reduce thawing time and thawing loss than air thawing. Among them, TLT22.5–7.5 samples almost retained the same tissue structure as fresh chicken breast, allowing the muscle fibers/bundles to capture more immobile water. TLT22.5–7.5 samples not only kept the color similar to fresh meat, but also had an obviously better moisture correlation characteristic than other thawed samples. TLT also demonstrated a strong microbial reproduction inhibitory impact. The thawed chicken could obtain a comparatively fresh quality if T2 was kept below 15 °C. Therefore, TLT is expected to reduce total thawing time and prevent meat quality deterioration caused by the freezing and thawing process.