Abstract: Chitosan (CH) or guar gum (GG) addition combined with ultrasonic treatment (UT) was applied to enhance gel properties of low-salt minced chicken breast meat. The effect was evaluated by measuring the cooking loss, texture characteristics, color, rheological properties, water distribution and microstructure. The results showed that adding GG increased the whiteness of the gel (P < 0.05), enhanced the apparent viscosity, converted more free water into immobile water, reduced the pores in the microstructure, and improved the gel quality through filling the three-dimensional gel network. On the other hand, the addition of CH reduced the whiteness of the gel (P < 0.05), decreased the apparent viscosity, and weakened the mobility of water, and improved the gel quality by cross-linking with protein. The combined treatment could further improve the hardness (P < 0.05) and decrease the cooking loss of low-salt chicken breast meat gel, thus being an effective method to improve the gel quality of low-salt chicken breast meat. The results of this study can provide theoretical support for the development of healthy low-salt meat products.

Key words: chicken breast meat gel; low-salt; chitosan; guar gum; ultrasonic treatment; polysaccharide combined with ultrasonic treatment