Effects of ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing on the muscle quality and physicochemical properties of chicken breast

This paper evaluated the impact of air freezing (AF), immersion freezing (IF) and ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing (UF) at different power levels (125, 165, 205 and 245 W) on the muscle quality and physicochemical properties of chicken breast. As the ultrasonic power increased, the total freezing time of the UF samples first decreased and then increased. UF at 165 W (UF-165) remarkably shortened the freezing time of the samples. Microstructure analysis showed that UF-165 samples had the smaller and more uniform ice crystals. In addition, UF-165 effectively reduced the thawing and cooking losses (P<0.05) compared to those of the AF and IF samples. Low field nuclear magnetic resonance analysis proved that the T21 and T22 of the UF-165 samples were shorter than those of the AF and IF samples (P<0.05), which meant that UF-165 reduced the mobility and loss of immobilized water. Overall, the appropriate ultrasonic power had a positive effect on maintaining the quality of frozen chicken breast.