Effect of irradiation and packaging type on sensory quality of chill‐stored turkey breast fillets

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Abstract
Summary: A panel of experienced assessors was used to test the effect of irradiation at 2.5kGy (250krad) on the sensory quality of 1‐day and 21‐day‐old turkey breast fillets stored at 1°C in either oxygen‐permeable polythene or an oxygen‐impermeable barrier film. In the application of Free Choice Profiling and Generalized Procrustes Analysis, assessors used their own terms to describe the appearance, odour and flavour of the samples.The irradiated samples showed negligible growth of micro‐organisms across 21 days of storage. Radiation treatment resulted in an intense pink colour in the raw and cooked samples, which was maintained during storage in oxygen‐impermeable film, but decreased in samples exposed to oxygen during storage. Radiation also produced a set of unpleasant raw odour notes variously described as sour, rancid, mature, bad meat or putrid in the samples stored in oxygen‐impermeable film. These notes were unlike the sulphurous notes previously associated with protein denaturation in irradiated chicken and were apparently distinct from the odour notes that developed in corresponding non‐irradiated samples.