Abstract: In order to reduce the concentration of sodium hypochlorite used to reduce its bacteria count, chicken breast meat was treated by the combination of ultrasound (300 W, on-off pulses of 1 s/1 s, 15 min) and sodium hypochlorite (30 mg/L). The effect of this combined treatment (U/SH30) on the bacterial decontamination and storage quality of chicken breast meat was evaluated through the determination of the total number of colonies, pH, color, tenderness, texture and water-holding capacity of chicken breasts during chilled storage (4 ℃). The results showed that U/SH30 treatment had no significant effect on pH, color or texture (P > 0.05), but decreased significantly total number of colonies (P < 0.05), and increased tenderness and water-holding capacity (P < 0.05) on day 0 compared with the control group (immersed for 15 min in sterile saline precooled to 4 ℃). Total number of colonies, pH, b* value, hardness and adhesiveness were lower, while springiness, L* value and a* value were higher than those in the control group from day 1 to 6. These results indicated that combining ultrasound with sodium hypochlorite can improve the tenderness and water-holding capacity while prolonging the shelf life of chicken meat.

Key words: ultrasound, sodium hypochlorite, bacterial decontamination, chicken breast quality