Delaying quality deterioration of refrigerated prepackaged chicken breasts with an emerging microwave-assisted induction heating system

Microwave-assisted induction heating (MAIH) is a composite heating system that combines top-down microwave irradiation with bottom-up electromagnetic induction. The objective of research was to evaluate whether chicken breast prepared with MAIH outperforms traditional boiling in terms of delaying quality deterioration during storage. Chicken breasts samples prepared by both MAIH conditions (100 °C/130 s and 80 °C/150 s) and boiling (90 °C/230 s) were analyzed for microbial, physical and chemical quality after refrigeration for 120 days. The results indicate that MAIH efficiently suppresses microbial proliferation in chicken breast during refrigeration, as opposed to boiling where microbial counts increase after day 100 of storage. In colour, all samples demonstrated a decrease in L * values, a * values, and W values, while b * values and ΔE values increased over time; however, MAIH-treated samples exhibited a delayed progression to a darker yellow hue and maintained lower ΔE values. Moreover, MAIH markedly inhibited the production of total volatile basic nitrogen, restricted the rise in pH, and delayed the increase in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances during storage. Collectively, these findings confirm that MAIH processing significantly delays microbial growth, colour alterations, and chemical degradation in refrigerated chicken breasts. Therefore, this is the first study to apply the MAIH method for prepackaged chicken breast with the aim of achieving preservation and extending shelf life.