Analytical Method for Differentiation of Chilled and Frozen-Thawed Chicken Meat

: Chilled and frozen chicken breast and thigh meat were stored at +4±1 oC and - 20±1 oC, respectively. Maillard reaction between ribose and meat proteins of the chicken samples was initiated. The changes in the ribose-induced Maillard reaction rate during chilled and frozen storage of chicken meat were evaluated on the bases of corrected absorbance values (A420*) and bovine melanoidin equivalent values (mg BME/g). Application of BME as a measure of ribose-induced Maillard reaction rate enables comparability of the data obtained by different spectrophotometers. It was found that the BME values of chicken meat frozen stored for more than 15 days were significantly (P<0.05) lower than BME values of chilled-stored samples. According to the suggested threshold limit values the chicken thigh and breast meat with BME values lower than 30 mg BME/g and 51 mg BME/g, respectively could be classified as frozen-thawed.