The sensory quality of irradiated whole fresh chicken carcasses

The colour, odour, flavour and texture of fresh chicken carcasses irradiated at doses up to 10 kGy was assessed using a trained sensory panel. In addition, colour was measured spectrophotometrically while texture was examined using the Instron. In a second experiment, the influence of storage following irradiation at doses up to 5 kGy on the sensory quality was established. Irradiation induced a slight pinkness in the chicken flesh which was detected by both the panelists and the spectrophotometer (a* -redness). During storage the pinkness decreased. The odour of raw chicken carcasses was not significantly affected by irradiation until a dose of 10kGy had been applied. The major changes in the flavour of irradiated chicken occurred during storage when an 'unpleasant' flavour with an 'after taste' developed. These flavour changes were more apparent in the breast than the leg meat but, it was only when doses greater than 5kGy were applied that significant differences were detected between irradiated and unirradiated samples. Texture changes were detected by the sensory panel but not by the Instron apparatus. Although the trained panelists were able to detect significant differences between irradiated and unirradiated chicken, the numerical differences between treatments were often quite small. It is possible that an untrained consumer group would be unable to detect these differences. (author). 2 refs, 1 fig., 14 tabs