Research Note: Producing lean poultry meat composite gels with different carbohydrate-based breadcrumbs

The effects of using different breadcrumbs (3 wheat, 2 gluten-free: pea and rice) to improve yield and modify the texture of a lean poultry product were evaluated. All breadcrumbs significantly reduced cooking loss (P < 0.05), with one of the wheat crumbs showing the best results (35% reduction). Light microscopy revealed that breadcrumbs were well connected to the cooked meat matrix, and fully hydrated, that is, forming well-structured composite gels. The presence of breadcrumbs resulted in lower hardness, chewiness, and gumminess values of 3 of the treatments (compared to the control with no breadcrumbs), while the other 2 did not affect those parameters. Overall, selected breadcrumbs that are commonly used in ground beef products can be employed to improve yield/modify texture in poultry products but have to be selected to address certain needs.