Quality and Shelf Life of Fresh Chicken Breasts Subjected to Crust Freezing with and without Skin

摘要

The effect of crust freezing (20 min, −85C) on raw chicken breast quality, with or without skin, during aerobic, refrigerated storage for up to 18 days was assessed using the International Commission on Illumination color parameters L*, a* and b*; tenderness; total aerobic (aerobic plate counts [APC]) and yeasts/molds counts. Skin on had significantly higher L* values compared with skinless breasts (average 75 versus 55), whereas a* and b* remained relatively constant regardless of the presence or absence of skin, freezing or time. For a* and b*, values oscillated between −2.10–0.78 and 1.38–3.77, respectively. Shear energy varied for skinless samples but tended to remain constant throughout time for skin-on breasts. APC increased over time, exceeding 8.0 log10 cfu/mL of rinse, between 6 and 12 days of storage. Crust freezing did not affect color or tenderness of raw chicken breasts, with or without skin, but also did not extend microbiological shelf life.Practical ApplicationsRaw poultry products are susceptible to spoilage and deterioration. Several freezing applications at the commercial level claim to improve quality attributes or extend shelf life of these products. Crust freezing, where the product is semi-frozen only at superficial layers of tissue, is one such application. The current study found that crust freezing did not affect quality attributes of raw chicken breasts, with or without skin, but neither did it extend their shelf life under aerobic, refrigerated storage, based on aerobic plate count values. Although further investigation is needed, this research serves as the foundation for other studies to benefit the industry. Because crust freezing is widely accepted as a shelf life-extending treatment, the results of this study imply that the freezing method, length of the crust freeze time, and the product type and form may influence the effectiveness of crust freezing for shelf life extension.