STORAGE DURATION AND TEMPERATURE IN BROILER CHICKEN – STANDARDS AND OBSERVATIONS

Temperature conditions in broiler chicken should be 0-4 0 C in refrigerated broiler chicken and, in broiler chicken frozen for more than 4 months, -15 0 C to -20 0 C to avoid alterations of physico-chemical and organoleptic features. pH values in carcass broiler chicken varies depending on storage time and on the degree of freshness, ranging between 6.1-6.4 in relatively fresh frozen broiler chicken and 6.4-6.5 in de-frozen broiler chicken, reaching 5.8-6.1 in fresh broiler chicken. Microbiological and physico-chemical features are influenced by storage conditions in both storage units and retail units. Easily hydrolysable nitrogen reached, in all analysed samples, values between 19.53±0.38 and 21.14±0.18 in broiler chicken carcass and 18.88±0.24 in broiler chicken legs.