SELECTED PROPERTIES OF EXTRUDED POTATO AND CHICKEN MEAT

Chicken thigh meat (CTM), (0-40%) was mixed with instant mashed potato and twin-screw extruded. Feed moisture content (FMC), (15 or 20%) and screw speed (SS) (250 or 300 rpm) were varied. CTM affected expansion , bulk density, mean cell size, plateau stress, fracturability and sol ubility. Protein, fat, free fatty acid and ash increased and carbohydr ate decreased as CTM increased. Extrudates produced at low feed moistu re (15%) had higher compressive resistance, fracturability and solubil ity. Extrudates produced at high feed moisture (20%) had higher bulk d ensity and mean cell size. Screw speed had no influence except on expa nsion degree (p less than or equal to 0.05). Increased CTM changed mic rostructure from rough, thread-like sheers to a flat, agglomerated car bohydrate-protein laminar phase. Panelists reported no differences in overall acceptability among 0% CTM extruded at 20% FMC, 20% CTM extrud ed at 15% FMC and 20% CTM extruded at 20% FMC.