Effects of Storage Temperatures and Times on Drying Chicken Breasts Using Film‐Drying: A New Application of Polymeric Film for Food Preservation

ABSTRACT This present study reports the effect of different storage temperatures on the film‐dried chicken breast (FDCB) by film‐drying technique for 15 days, including FDCB‐(−18), FDCB‐4, FDCB‐18, FDCB‐28 and FDCB‐38 (°C). Both storage time and temperature negatively affected the water‐holding capacity and moisture ratio, except for FDCB‐(−18). To ensure the quality of film‐dried chicken meats, they were rehydrated and evaluated in terms of colour values, tissue microstructure and hardness. The results showed that the rehydrated samples FDCB‐28 and FDCB‐38 promoted redness loss and increased the hardness values compared with other samples at low temperatures. Moreover, the storage temperature below 28°C was the most effective strategy for best maintaining the physicochemical, antioxidative, microbiological and sensory quality of film‐dried chicken samples, similar to those of raw meat. Interestingly, the FDCB‐(−18), FDCB‐4 and FDCB‐18 samples showed a significant ( p < 0.05) inhibitory effect on microbial growth and lipid oxidation for 15 days.