Prediction of warmed-over flavour development in cooked chicken by colorimetric sensor array

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Sensory Science

Background:

• Warmed-over flavour (WOF) is a significant quality defect in cooked meats.
• Objective methods are needed to evaluate WOF development during storage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple, rapid colorimetric sensor array (CSA) method for assessing WOF in cooked chicken.
• To correlate CSA data with established chemical markers of WOF.

Main Methods:

• Cooked chicken samples were analyzed using a CSA.
• CSA data were processed with principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) for classification.
• Partial least square regression (PLSR) models were built to predict thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and volatile aldehydes (pentanal, hexanal, heptanal).

Main Results:

• CSA successfully classified chicken samples based on storage time.
• High coefficients of determination (rp(2) > 0.960) were achieved for predicting TBARS, pentanal, hexanal, and heptanal.
• The CSA method demonstrated strong correlation with chemical indicators of WOF.

Conclusions:

• The CSA method provides a reliable and rapid approach for evaluating WOF in cooked chicken.
• CSA coupled with chemometrics can effectively monitor WOF development and distinguish storage times.