Ground Chicken Breast Research Articles

Inactivation of Salmonella and Listeria in Ground Chicken Breast Meat during Thermal Processing

Thermal inactivation of six Salmonella spp. and Listeria innocua was evaluated in ground chicken breast and liquid medium. Survival of Salmonella and Listeria was affected by the medium composition. Under the same thermal process condition, significantly more Salmonella and Listeria survived in chicken breast meat than in 0.1% peptone-agar solution. The thermal lethality of six tested Salmonella spp. was additive in chicken meat. Survival of Listeria in chicken meat during thermal processing was not affected by the presence of the six Salmonella spp. Sample size and shape affected the inactivation of Salmonella and Listeria in chicken meat during thermal processing.

APPARENT THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY, WATER CONTENT, DENSITY, AND POROSITY OF THERMALLY‐PROCESSED GROUND CHICKEN PATTIES1

ABSTRACTChanges in thermal conductivity, density, and porosity during heating were evaluated for commercially manufactured ground chicken breast patties in a temperature range of 23 to 85C. The thermal conductivity of the meat, heated in a closed container, decreased approximately 8% with increasing temperature. In a separate test series, where water was free to leave the meat during cooking, the water content decreased approximately 15% over the same temperature range. The thermal conductivity of the meat was modeled as a quadratic function of temperature. Changes in the water content were modeled as a linear function of temperature. The solid density increased approximately 6%, and the porosity more than doubled with a temperature increase from 23 to 85C.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INSTRUMENTAL AND VISUAL COLOR IN A RAW, FRESH BEEF AND CHICKEN MODEL SYSTEM

ABSTRACT A range of meat redness was created by mixing fresh, chilled ground chicken breast and ground beef in predetermined ratios. Samples were scored for visual redness under halogen (incandescent) and cool white fluorescent lighting. Instrumental color characteristics (L*, a*, b*, hue angle, chroma; illuminants A and F) and red color contributed by oxymyoglobin (percentage reflectance at 630 nm versus 580 nm) were determined. Correlation coefficients were determined between visual and instrumental evaluations. The a*, b*, and ΔR (630–580) were highly correlated to visual redness (halogen light: r = 0.99, ‐0.99, and 0.96, respectively; cool white fluorescent light: 0.98, ‐0.98, and 0.96, respectively). Regression analysis was conducted to develop equations to predict visual redness using instrumental color measures. In the 20% to 85% beef range, the regression curves were principally linear although the overall relationships (0–100% beef range) were cubic. Among the instrumental color parameters, a*, hue angle, and ΔR (630–580) could be used to predict visual redness for this model system.

Analysis of foods for heterocyclic aromatic amine carcinogens by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography

Carcinogenic and mutagenic heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) are natural products often present at ng/g levels in muscle meats when they are cooked at temperatures over 150°C. Using solid-phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with photodiode array UV detection, samples were analyzed for the following heterocyclic amines: DiMeIQx(2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline); IQ(2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline); MeIQx(2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline); and PhIP(2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine). Quality control samples, analyzed periodically over two years in a blind study, show relative standard deviations ranging from 22 to 38% for the compounds found, variations typical for analysis at ng/g levels. Amounts range from undetectable levels (less than 0.1 ng/g) to hundreds of ng/g of PhIP for frying or grilling at high meat surface temperatures. Beef, chicken, pork and lamb can all have greater than 10 ng/g of PhIP. Ground chicken breast meat has lower amounts of heterocyclic amines than intact muscle pieces of the same size cooked identically. Restaurant prepared samples that we analyzed contained undetectable levels up to 14 ng/g total heterocyclic amines for a beef steak sample. Not extracted with the above method are related mutagenic heterocyclic amines, which have been reported in cooked foods in our laboratory and others. Method development using ion exchange on an SCX solid-phase extraction cartridge shows promise in providing a method for the quantitation of these mutagenic dimethyl-, trimethyl- and furo-imidazopyridines where a practical analysis method is needed.

Fat and Water Composition Affects Residual Catalatic Activity in Chicken Breast Heated to Specific End‐point Temperatures

ABSTRACTFat and water contents of meat tissues strongly influence their thermo‐physical properties. Seven groups of ground chicken breast meat containing varying amounts of fat and water were prepared for this investigation. Each group was heated to end‐point temperatures (EPTs) of 69.0 to 71.0°C at 0.5°C intervals. Severity of heat treatments was evaluated by the total process lethality calculated using the General Method. The fat and water contents affected the heating time to reach specific EPTs and the residual catalatic activity at EPTs of 69.0, 69.5 and 70.0°C, but did not affect total process lethality. The variation of the catalase method for determining EPT was related to the sample composition.

Total Process Lethality as Related to Residual Catalase Activity in Cooked Chicken Breast

ABSTRACTWe investigated the effects of total process lethality on the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, presumably due to catalase activity. Ground chicken breast meat was heated to various end‐point temperatures (EPTs) in 10 heating treatments varying heating time and rate. Within each treatment, residual catalase activity was affected by the product EPT. However, samples heated to the same EPT under different treatments retained less enzymatic activity as heating time increased. Total process lethality was calculated to assess the severity of heating at each EPT under each heating condition. Residual enzymatic activity was directly related to the total lethality.

Evaluation of Creatine Phosphokinase Activity as a Means of Determining Cooking End-Point Temperature

The influence of cooking end-point temperatures (EPTs) of 62.8, 66.7, 67.8, 68.9, 70.0, 71.1, 73.9, and 76.7°C on residual creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activity in laboratory prepared model systems of ground chicken and turkey breast meat was determined. CPK activity was also assayed in commercially prepared chicken, turkey, and meat products using a Sigma #661 CPK test kit. Three tenths milliliter of 0.9% saline extracts obtained from the chicken, turkey, and meat products was substituted for 0.3 ml serum specified in the test kit procedure. For the model samples, there was a marked decrease in CPK activity as EPT increased from 66.7 to 76.7°C; however, model samples heated to 76.7°C did retain low amounts of CPK activity. In general, very low levels of CPK were found in commercially prepared chicken and turkey products (0 to 10.6 Sigma units/ml). Results of CPK activity in commercially prepared meat products would indicate that the test is product dependent, with values ranging from zero for beef franks to 258 Sigma units/ml for hard salami. Thus, while CPK activity may be useful for detecting cooking EPT for quality control purposes, it should not be used as a regulatory procedure where experience with the specific product is not available.

Heat Treatment Effects on Warmed‐Over Flavor in Chicken Breast Meat

ABSTRACTThe effects of various heat treatments on warmed‐over flavor (WOF) in ground chicken breast meat were examined. WOF was measured by thiobarbituric acid test and taste panel. Integral temperature‐time history functions (TTH) were used to quantify constant and variable temperature‐time heat treatments. The effect of processing on WOF was modeled as a modified first‐order kinetic absolute reaction. A reaction threshold temperature of 74°C and an activation energy of 15,000–20,000 Cal/g‐mole were calculated. The accumulated TTH value above 74°C was found to have a major effect on WOF development. WOF in precooked chicken breast meat can be controlled by choice of processing conditions.

Evaluation of the Biuret and Dye‐Binding Methods for Protein Determination in Meats

SUMMARYThe biuret method of protein estimation was compared with the Kjeldahl method. Highly significant positive correlations with Kjeldahl protein of 0.99, 0.99, 0.98, and 0.99 were obtained for ground beef, pork, chicken breast, and cod, respectively. The high correlations between the two methods and the small standard deviations for the biuret values point out the reliability and the accuracy of the biuret method. The same substances were analyzed by the Orange G dye‐binding method with highly significant positive correlations with Kjeldahl protein of 0.90, 0.80, 0.94, and 0.95 for ground beef, pork, chicken breast, and cod, respectively. However, the amount of dye bound per g protein varies with the protein content of the sample, and the precision is poor. Orange G dye binding has possibilities for use in analyzing meat proteins only if the preparations and procedures are carefully standardized and the protein content does not vary more than a few percent. With Amido Black 10B, the amount of dye bound was too strongly dependent upon sample size to justify further investigation of this dye for estimation of the protein content of comminuted meats.