Use of microwave in chicken breast and application of different storage conditions: consequences on oxidation

Abstract

Slices of chicken breast were subjected to microwave heating (750 W, 3 min) and further storage in different conditions (refrigeration at 4 °C and freezing at −18 °C combined with aerobic, vacuum, and modified atmosphere packaging). Evaluation of the intensity of the oxidation process was carried out. A 16-fold increment in the amount of cholesterol oxidation products (COP) was found as a consequence of microwave cooking (45.86 μg/g lipid after microwave and 2.88 μg/g lipid in raw samples). 7-ketocholesterol was the most affected COP by microwave, accounting for a 25% of the total COP. Storage of microwaved samples under aerobic refrigeration led to the highest oxidation status with the following values: peroxide 19.41 meqO2/kg lipid, TBA 0.32 ppm and COP 123.50 μg/g lipid. MAP refrigerated samples showed 50.94 μg/g lipid of total COP, an amount slightly higher than in vacuum conditions (46.81 μg/g lipid). Under frozen storage MAP and vacuum samples showed the lowest amounts of total COP (29.76 and 39.28 μg/g lipid, respectively).