Improving water retention of chicken breast meats by CaCl 2 combined with pulsed electric fields

Summary Frozen poultry meat is the most widely consumed animal‐based food. However, water loss often leads to quality loss of poultry meat. Therefore, the present study sought to investigate the combined effect of calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) and pulsed electric fields (PEF) treatment on chicken breast meats and the mechanisms underlying protein degradation. The results showed that the synergistic effect was superior to the single treatment. Compared with the untreated group, the combination of CaCl 2 and PEF increased water holding capacity of chicken breast meats by 16.61% and decreased cooking loss by 28.93%. Low‐field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF‐NMR) results indicated that the synergistic treatment promoted water molecules' binding capacity in myofibrils of poultry meat, which exhibited higher immobilised water. Additionally, the combination of CaCl 2 and PEF led to increased degradation of proteins of high‐molecular weight and surface hydrophobicity of myofibrillar protein. Furthermore, the extension of the protein molecule and microenvironmental changes promoted interaction between protein and water. In conclusion, the synergistic treatment of CaCl 2 and PEF enhanced water retention and improved physicochemical properties of the myofibrillar protein in chicken breast meats.