Changes in Meat Quality Characteristics of the Sous-vide Cooked Chicken Breast during Refrigerated Storage

This study was performed to investigate the changes in meat quality characteristics of the sous vide cooked chicken breast during refrigerated storage at 4℃ for 14 d between before and after sous-vide cooking. Cooking loss and shear force were significantly increased, whereas expressible drip was significantly decreased along with reduction in the water holding capacity in both of two groups. Redness of meat juice was significantly (p<0.05) increased during storage, and considerably increased in the refrigerated samples after sous-vide cooked at the 7 to 10 d. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was significantly increased and was higher in the refrigerator stored chicken breast samples after sous-vide cooking. The volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) value was significantly increased in both groups, but the VBN value of the stored raw meat sample before sous-vide cooking was increased at an early storage, while the VBN value of the stored sample after sous-vide cooking was increased gradually in this study. Total viable counts and coliform counts were significantly decreased during storage, and coliforms were not detected after 7 d of storage in both groups. Salmonella spp. was not detected during the whole studied period. The outcome of this research can provide preliminary data that could be used to apply for further study of chicken breast using sous-vide cooking method that could be attractive to consumers.