TITLE:
EFFECT OF PROCESSING VARIABLES ON SOME QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF AIR-FRIED CHICKEN NUGGETS FROM FUNAAB INDIGENOUS BROILERS
NAME: AYOOLA Grace Temitope
MATRIC NO: PG 15/0327
PROGRAMME: Food Processing and Value Addition
CENTER: Centre for Excellence in Agricultural Development and Sustainable Environment
DEGREE AWARDED: M.AgSE Food Processing and Value Addition
YEAR OF ADMISSION: 2014/2015 Session
DATE OF DEFENCE:
ABSTRACT
Traditional deep fat frying technology usually results in high fat based products which are not compatible with recent consumers demand. Hence, this study aimed at optimizing the processing conditions of air fried chicken nuggets from FUNAAB Indigenous broilers (FIB). Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on central composite design was used to investigate the effects of frying temperature (FT; 155-1750C), and frying time (Ft; 10-30 mins) on some quality attributes of chicken nuggets from FIB. Thirteen experimental runs were applied. The quality attributes of fried chicken nuggets which include oil, and moisture content, redness, yellowness and lightness were determined using standard laboratory procedures. Textural attributes such as hardness (N), cohesiveness, springiness, stringiness (mm), chewiness (N), adhesiveness (N.s) and gumminess (N) were also determined. Numerical optimization technique was used to obtain the optimum processing conditions of air-fried chicken nuggets from FIB. The sensory acceptability of the optimized air-fried chicken nuggets was compared with optimized deep fat using thirty untrained panellists. Quadratic polynomial models were fitted to the data to obtain the regression equations used to generate response surface plots. The mean values of oil and moisture contents, lightness, redness, and yellowness ranged between 8.05-15.31%, 56.03-69.44%, 34.77-68.60, 14.03-27.87, and 26.87-55.98, respectively. Also, adhesiveness, chewiness, cohesiveness, and gumminess ranged between 2.31-9.06 N.s, 14.43-45.31 N, 0.58-0.74 mm, and 23.28-58.39 N, while hardness, springiness and stringiness ranged between 42.49-89.47 N, 0.44-0.84 mm, and 3.67-9.26 mm, respectively. The regression coefficient of determination (R2) of the quadratic models ranged between 0.32 and 0.87. Frying time (main effect) and frying temperature (quadratic effect) had a negative significant (p<0.05) effect on moisture content of air-fried chicken nuggets. Oil content decreased with increase in frying time and frying temperature. The quadratic effect of frying time was significant (p<0.05) on the lightness parameter of air-fried chicken nuggets. The effect of frying time was significant (p<0.05) on redness. Frying time significantly (p<0.05) affected yellowness negatively. No significant (p<0.05) effect of process variables on Hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness, respectively were observed. However, springiness and stringiness were significantly (p<0.05) affected by frying time. The FT of 155 0C, and Ft of 10 min was obtained as the optimum processing conditions. Sensory assessment of optimized air-fried and deep fat fried chicken nuggets revealed that for all the sensory attributes investigated, there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in taste, texture and aroma. However, significant (p<0.05) differences were observed in appearance, texture and overall acceptance of optimized air-fried and deep fat fried in chicken nuggets. In conclusion, air frying of chicken nuggets can be an alternative method in producing healthier and acceptable fried chicken nuggets.
Word Count: 482