Studies on a-tocopherol Acetate as an Antioxidant in Chicken Mince on Its Quality During Refrigerated Storage

Studies were conducted to find out the optimum level of a-tocopherol acetate (TA) in minced chicken meat (MCM) system preblended with 0, 5, 7.5, 10 and 12.5 ppm levels to improve the meat quality during a refrigerated storage period of 9 days. Significantly (p < 0.05) higher colour score, odour score and lower metmyoglobin % and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value as compared to the control sample indicated better oxidative stability of the TA treated MCM. A significantly higher water holding capacity at 7.5 ppm level and lower cooking loss at 5, 7.5 and 10 ppm levels were noticed. There was no significant change in meat pH due to TA treatment. The microbial counts of the treated MCM were higher than control group during the refrigerated storage period. The required optimum level of TA is 10 ppm, which can extend the shelf-life of the MCM upto 9 days instead of 5 days in the control sample during refrigerated storage.