Physico-chemical properties and sensory acceptance of retorted chicken curry packed in different types of pouches

Noor Zainah, A.*, Wan Nur Zahidah, W. Z., Nurhazwani, S., Khairol Nadia, A. H., Hairiyah, M., Mohd Fakhri, H., Norhida Arnieza, M. and Norizah, M. A.

Abstract
Chicken curry was prepared according to a standardised recipe. The dish was packed in RcPP/Nylon/Al/PET (Al) and Nylon/RcPP (T) and processed in the retort at 121 °C with the corresponding F0 values of 6, 8 and 10. All samples were analysed for physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory evaluation. The chicken curry gravy showed a decreasing trend for total soluble solids (TSS) and colour (a* value). Still, an increasing trend was observed for pH, colour (L* and b* value) and viscosity. The absence of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, as well as yeast and mould, coliform/E. coli and Salmonella spp. indicated that retorted chicken curry was safe to be consumed. Overall, the sensory evaluation results indicated that the chicken curry retorted at different F0 values and packed with different types of pouches are generally acceptable in terms of colour, odour, taste, texture, viscosity and overall acceptability (sensory scores > 4.84). However, further improvement can be made in terms of odour, taste, texture (chicken) and specific pouch types for certain F0 values. The overall acceptability of chicken curry retorted at 121 °C with F0 6 was the most preferred, with a sensory score of 5.68 for chicken curry packed with an Al pouch.

Keywords: chicken curry, retort pouches, quality evaluation, sensory acceptance

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