Abstract:

Standardized pretreatment conditions and operating procedure were developed for evaluating the water-holding
capacity (WHC) of chicken breast by measuring drip loss, pressure loss and cooking loss. The correlations of each WHC
indicator with meat color, shear force and pH24 h (pH at 24 h postmortem) and were analyzed as well. The results showed
that dripping time (from 24 to 72 h) significantly influenced drip loss (P ＜ 0.05). Pressure (from 25 to 40 kg) and holding
time (3 to 7 min) had a significant impact on pressure loss (P ＜ 0.05). Cooking loss significantly increased with increasing
internal temperature (from 65 to 75 ℃) and water-bath temperature (from 70 to 80 ℃). These results suggested that the
following measurement conditions were recommended: 2 cm×2 cm×2 cm meat cubes and a dripping time of 48 h for
drip loss; a pressure of 35 kg hold for 5 min for pressure loss; and heating in 75 ℃ water bath to an internal temperature of
70 ℃ for cooking loss. The results of correlation analysis indicated that shear force had a significantly positive correlation
with cooking loss (P ＜ 0.05). pH24 h was correlated highly significantly negatively with L* (P ＜ 0.01) and significantly
negatively with pressure loss and drip loss (P ＜ 0.05). Drip loss had a significant correlation with other parameters of WHC
including pressure loss, immobilized water, and so on. In summary, pH24 h had some correlations with meat color and WHC
and the drip loss was the best index for measuring the WHC.

Key words: chicken breast, water-holding capacity, standardization, correlation