Determining the drying degree and quality of chicken jerky by LF-NMR

The objective is to characterize the changes in water mobility in drying process of chicken breast using 1 H low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR). Chicken breast was dried at different temperatures, i.e. 50 °C, 55 °C, 60 °C, 65 °C, 70 °C and 75 °C, respectively. Indicators related to water mobility were gained by LF-NMR and the shear force, the main relevant quality indicator, was also measured. The total water content measured by the conventional determination method-oven drying method were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that the total water content, the transverse relaxation time of immobilized water ( T 21 ) and the signal per mass of the immobilized water ( A 2 ) and the total water content ( A ) decreased significantly but the shear force value (SFV) increased with the drying time increasing at each drying temperature. A 2 and A had extremely significant correlations with the total moisture content, whose correlation coefficients were 0.983 and 0.992 for 50 °C, 0.928 and 0.901 for 55 °C, 0.975 and 0.970 for 60 °C, 0.920 and 0.938 for 65 °C, 0.821 and 0.798 for 70 °C, 0.911 and 0.906 for 75 °C. So, the immobilized water of the dried chicken breast determined the changes of the total moisture content at the same drying time. A 2 and A can be on behalf of the total moisture content in this respect of change rule. A 2 and A also had extremely significant correlations with the shear force. Therefore, the LF-NMR was able to evaluate the drying degree and the quality of chicken jerky.