QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF CURED SMOKED CHICKEN FILLETS AS INFLUENCED BY CAPSICUM SPP. EXTRACT AND CHLORIDE SALTS

Abstract

Sodium nitrite (NaNO2) and sodium chloride (NaCl) are essential ingredients for meat curing. However, prolonged consumption of these salts could have deleterious health effects on consumers. Capsicum Extract (CE) has preservative and colour-fixing abilities which could replace NaNO2, while NaCl could be substituted with combinations of safer chloride salts. There is paucity of information on utilisation of CE and selected chloride salts in meat product development. Hence, quality characteristics of cured smoked Chicken Fillets (CF) prepared with CE and chloride salts were investigated. Four Capsicum spp.: Bell Pepper-BlP, Bird Pepper-BdP, Cayenne Pepper-CeP and Scotch Bonnet-SB were oven-dried at 60oC and extracted with 95% methanol (1:5 w/v). Extracts were analysed for total phenol (mg/100g), Radical Scavenging Activity-RSA (%) and total carotenoids (mg/100g) using standard procedures. Chicken fillets obtained from 20-week old male Funaab-α II birds were cured using 0% nitrite (T1), 0.015% nitrite (T2); and BlP extract at: 0.150% (T3), 0.300% (T4), 0.450% (T5), 0.600% (T6) and 0.750% (T7) in a completely randomised design. New samples were cured with 3.500% NaCl (S1), 1.750% NaCl+1.750% calcium chloride-CaCl2 (S2), 1.750% NaCl+1.750% potassium chloride-KCl (S3), 1.750% NaCl+1.750% magnesium chloride-MgCl2 (S4), 1.750% NaCl+0.875% CaCl2+0.875% KCl (S5), 1.750% NaCl+0.875% CaCl2+0.875% MgCl2 (S6), 1.750% NaCl+0.875% KCl+0.875% MgCl2 (S7) and 0.875% NaCl+0.875% CaCl2+0.875% KCl+0.875% MgCl2 (S8) and then smoked, vacuum-packed and stored at 25oC for 60 days. The best CF (0.450% BlP extract and 1.750% NaCl+0.875% KCl+0.875% MgCl2) was prepared and stored at 4oC and 25oC for 90 days. The pH, Lipid Oxidation-LO (mg/100g), sodium (mg/kg), redness and Total Anaerobic Bacteria Count-TABC (log10cfu/g) were determined at 15-day interval using standard procedures. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at α0.05. Total phenol in extracts of BdP (0.48±0.16), 0.42±0.10 (CeP) and 0.35±0.06 (BlP) were similar but significantly higher than 0.29±0.07 in SB. The RSA of extracts ranged from 34.90±1.11 (BdP) to 85.17±2.00 (BlP). Total carotenoids ranged from 22.32±1.62 (BdP) to 43.63±1.67 (CeP). The pH significantly reduced from 6.06±0.06 (T6) to 5.12±0.02 (T1) during storage. Lipid oxidation of 0.91±0.30 was least in T6 on day 0, while 1.26±0.01 was highest in T7 on day 60. Lowest and highest redness of 13.82±1.12 and 23.20±3.74 were obtained in T5 and T1, respectively, while TABC ranged from 2.16±0.28 (T7) to 3.11±0.19 (T1). The pH of 4.93±0.25 was least in S1 while S7 had highest pH of 6.05±0.02. Lipid oxidation significantly increased during storage for all treatments from 0.07±0.06 (day 0) to 0.40±0.15 (day 60). Sodium content ranged from 15.09±1.03 (S7) to 28.20±1.06 (S2), while redness was highest in S8 (27.36±3.60) and least in S7 (11.27±2.45). The TABC ranged from 3.21±0.16 (S6) to 4.01±0.09 (S4). The CF stored at 25oC had least LO of 0.59±0.06 indicating better stability. The TABC of 2.42±0.10 was least in CF stored at 4 oC while CF stored at 25oC had higher TABC of 4.09±0.05. Bell pepper extract at 0.45% inclusion in cured smoked chicken fillets and substitution of sodium chloride with 25% potassium chloride and 25% magnesium chloride maintained quality and reduced inherent sodium level in the product.