Quantification of chicken breast muscle stiffening caused by formaldehyde

Abstract

Tenderness or texture of chicken breast may be evaluated through measuring the force needed to lead to the rupture of muscle fibers. The aim of this paper was to quantify the muscle stiffening in chicken breasts which underwent fixing and storage in 10% formaldehyde solution, throughout a year. The analyses were carried out in fresh chicken breasts (control group) and in samples at 7, 15, 30, 90, 180, and 360 days of conservation. The shear force varied from 3.38 kgf (control group) to 17.37 kgf (30-day group). In the 15-day conservation group there was a little force decrease (14.74 kgf), when compared to the 90 (16.94 kgf), 180 (16.71 kgf), or 360 (15.42 kgf) day groups. One concludes that, when chicken breasts underwent fixing and storage in 10% formaldehyde aqueous solution, tenderness is decreased, and they become almost five times harder after seven days of storage in this solution.

Keywords

• Formaldehyde
• Shear force
• Texture