Quality of fried broiler chicken leg muscles stored at different temperatures

Chicken leg pieces (60 g each). with optimized quantity of additives were fried in hydrogenated vegetable oil at 180°C for 8 min. The fried product was packed in paper-foil-polyethylene pouches (PFP) and stored under ambient (20 ± 5°C, 65-80% RH), refrigerator (5°C, 80% RH) and deep freezer (-18°C, 85-90% RH) conditions. The changes in microbial profile, oxidative and hydrolytic rancidity and sensory quality were evaluated periodically. It was found that the product was microbiologically (standard plate count (SPC) < 3 log cfu/g) safe and sensorily acceptable (overall acceptability >7) up to 4 days under ambient conditions. Hydrolytic and oxidative rancidity values during four days storage at room temperature were less than 0.16 % oleic acid and 3.5 mg malonaldehyde/kg, respectively. The products stored under refrigerated and deep freezer exhibited a shelf stability of 10 and 18 weeks, respectively. SPC was 1.3 log cfu/g while rancidity parameters were free fatty acid < 0.43% oleic acid and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were <6.13 mg malonaldehyde/kg. Sensorily the product exhibited an overall acceptability score of >7 on a 9-point Hedonic scale during refrigerated and frozen storage.