A process standardised for the preparation of shelf-stable intermediate moisture (IM) meat from spent hens consisted of dipping dressed carcass in 2% lactic acid for 2 min., dicing of meat into chunks, soaking for 12 hr in an infusion solution containing humectants, rubbing with 2% garlic-turmeric (1:1) paste andoven-drying (80±1°C; 4hr).The keeping quality of finished product packaged in low density polyethylene (LDPE; 300 G), high density polyethylene (HDPE 300 G), polypropylene (PP; 250 G) film and PFP (12 μm polyester-90 μm Al foil--38μm LDPE) laminated pouches was evaluated during 2 months ofambient (24±2°C) storage. Meat chunks gained 22.5% weight during soak equilibration and the yield of semi-dried meat averaged 44.3% of raw weight. The IM meat had an initial pH of 6.32 and 49.5% moisture with 0.82 water activity. Samples stored in PP showed maximum weight loss (3.6%) followed by LDPE (2.1%), HDPE (1.8%) and negligble in PFP laminated pouches (0.07%). Although a gradual increase in TBA value, bacterial count and a decrease in sensory quality occurred with storage time, samples packed in LDPE, HDPE or PFP laminated pouches remained failly acceptable upto 6 weeks of ambient storage.
Intermediate moisture chicken meat, packaging, keeping quality
