The present study was conducted to asses the effect of sex on the quality characteristics of nuggets prepared from vanaraja chicken meat. The formulation of nuggets prepared from male and female meat separately, consisted of 60% lean meat obtained from vanaraja birds of over 72 weeks of age slaughtered by traditional Halal method. The products developed were compared for various physicochemical and sensory parameters. pH and proximate parameters namely moisture percent, crude protein, ether extract and ash percent of both emulsion as well as cooked product showed no significant (P>0.05) difference however, moisture and fat content were marginally higher in both raw as well as cooked nuggets prepared from meat obtained from female vanaraja birds. The mean sensory scores for colour and appearance, texture and odour were significantly (P<0.05) higher in case of nuggets prepared from meat obtained from male birds whereas mean sensory score for juiciness was significantly (P<0.05) higher in case of nuggets prepared from meat obtained from female birds. Furthermore, overall acceptability was significantly (P<0.05) higher for nuggets prepared from male birds. Based on various sensory and physico-chemical parameters, nuggets prepared from meat obtained from male birds were selected as optimum for the preparation of nuggets from vanaraja chicken at 72 weeks of age.
Nuggets, Vanaraja, sex, proximate analysis, sensory evaluation
