Abstract:
Marination is a simple technology to enhance the meat quality characteristics. The present
study investigated the effect of the marination method and holding time on
physicochemical and sensory properties of broiler meat. Deboned thigh meat obtained
from 32-days old broiler chickens were marinated with a commercially available marinade
mixture using three different methods; Injection, Immersion, and Tumbling. Un-marinated
meat was kept as the control. Each treatment was further held at three different holding
times of 4, 8, and 12 hours (n=7). The meat samples from each treatment (n=21) were
analyzed for pH, water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss, cooking yield, uptake of
marinade, marinade loss, meat colour, and shearing force value (SFV). Cooked meat
samples from each treatment were evaluated for sensory properties. The experiment was
conducted in a completely randomized design and two-way analysis of variance was
conducted to determine the effects of marination method and their interaction with the
holding time. Irrespective to the holding time marination method significantly (P<0.05)
influenced on all the physicochemical parameters assessed. Among the criteria assessed,
darkness (-l*) and yellowness (b*) of meat was not significantly (P>0.05) influenced by the
holding time. Tumbling resulted (P<0.05) higher marinade uptake, cooking yield, and
higher pH value and the values were the highest (P<0.05) at 8 hours. Tumbling resulted
(P<0.05) the lowest drip loss, SFV, cooking loss compared to other methods. Marination
effectively reduced (P<0.05) SFV than untreated control. Of the meat colour parameters
assessed, tumbling and immersion yielded (P<0.05) the highest darkness (-l*) and redness
(a*) meat at both 8 and 12 hours. As compared to other methods, immersion method
significantly improved (P<0.05) the darkness (-l*) of meat. Sensory data suggested that the
injection method improved (P<0.05) the sensory attributes for texture, marinade
penetration, colour penetration, flavour and overall acceptability. Immersion method
significantly improved (P<0.05) the sensory attribute for meat color. The present study
concluded that the marination of broiler meat by tumbling method held for 8 hours
improved physicochemical parameters of broiler meat. Injection method is the best when
sensory attributes are concerned.
