Research on the Effect of Ultrasonic Combined with Low-Temperature Clear Halogen Two-Stage Thermal Processing on Chicken Quality and Flavor

This study aimed to investigate the effects of ultrasonic pre-treatment and low-temperature brining two-stage processing on the quality and flavor of chicken meat. The chicken breast meat was chosen as the research subject. Single-factor and orthogonal experiments were conducted to examine the influence of pre-cooking time, bringing time, pre-cooking temperature, and bringing temperature on the quality of low-temperature brined chicken meat. Shear force and sensory evaluation were used as target values to obtain optimized process parameters for low-temperature brining of chicken breast meat. Furthermore, using a high-temperature bringing group (HT) and without-ultrasonic pretreatment group (WUP) as controls, measurements were taken for texture profile analysis (TPA), moisture content, color, lipid oxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS), myofibril fragmentation index (MFI), protein solubility, and volatile flavor substance levels in the ultrasonic pretreatment and low-temperature brine group (UP) based on the optimal process. The results showed that the optimal process for the UP group was a pre-cooking time of 10 minutes, a bringing time of 3 hours, a pre-cooking temperature of 45 °C, and a bringing temperature of 69 °C. Compared to the HT group, the UP group exhibited significantly reduced texture parameters (hardness, cohesiveness, springiness and resilience) (P<0.05), significantly increased moisture content (P<0.05), improved chicken meat color properties with significantly increased lightness (L^*) and redness (a^*) values (P<0.05), and significantly reduced lipid oxidation levels (P<0.05). The MFI and protein solubility results indicated that the combination of ultrasound and low-temperature bringing effectively reduced the integrity of myofibrils and increased the solubility of total protein. According to the results of sensory analysis, low-temperature marinated chicken breast was found to have a more tender and delicious taste, although it received a lower score for odor compared to high-temperature marinated chicken breast. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) results further demonstrated that the two-stage processing of ultrasound and bringing increased the variety and content of volatile flavor substances in chicken meat, but the content of volatile aldehydes was higher in high-temperature brining. In conclusion, compared to other bringing processes, the combination of ultrasound and low-temperature bringing in a two-stage process improved the quality and flavor of chicken meat products.