Effect of sugar types on physical attributes and crystalline structure of sweet-dried chicken meat product

The sweet-dried chicken, an intermediate-moisture meat (aw 0.7-0.8), was prepared by marinating ground chicken meat with 2% salt and 35% sugar level by weight of meat. The mixture of sweet-dried chicken meat varied sugar types (sucrose, fructose, lactose and sorbitol) underwent drying (45°C) and frying (120°C) processes, respectively. The color (L*, a*, b*), browning intensity, shear force values, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and sensory evaluation of sweet-dried chicken meat samples were determined. Samples prepared with fructose and lactose after frying showed darker brown color than those of sucrose and sorbitol treatment samples (p 0.05). Shear force values of samples prepared with sorbitol and sucrose were lower than those of fructose and lactose treatment samples (p 0.05) which was corresponded to the higher sensory score in tenderness and overall acceptance. The sweet-dried chicken meat prepared with sucrose and sorbitol had the highest sensory scores in all attributes (p 0.05). Degree of molecular ordering of samples was evaluated by X-ray diffraction patterns. After frying, sample prepared with lactose showed the highest order of crystalline structure compared to other treatments. However, the sensory score in glossy of sample prepared with lactose was lower than those prepared with sucrose, sorbitol and fructose, respectively (p 0.05).