Physicochemical Quality Assessment of Vacuum Packed Frozen Chicken Sausages Subjected to Temperature Fluctuations During Storage

A study was conducted to evaluate quality changes in frozen chicken sausages under various temperature abuse conditions. Chicken sausages prepared following standardized formulation and procedure, were vacuum packed and stored at frozen conditions (−18 ± 1°C) for 24 h. Frozen sausages were temperature abused at five different temperatures of 5, 10, 15, 20 & 25°C for predetermined durations. One sample kept at-18 ± 1°C served as control. All the samples including control were evaluated for pH, TBARS and FDA hydrolysis. pH of chicken sausages decreased significantly (P<0.05) with increasing exposure to abuse temperature, while TBARS and FDA hydrolysis increased significantly (P<0.05). A positive correlation was observed between TBARS and FDA hydrolysis, whereas, pH was negatively correlated with TBARS and FDA. Higher temperature abused chicken sausages resulted in significant deterioration of physicochemical parameters as compared to lower temperature storage.