Proximate composition, selected minerals, cholesterol content and lipid oxidation of mechanically and hand-deboned chickens from the Jordanian market.

Samples of chicken were prepared using four treatments: (1) manual deboning of whole chickens; (2) manual deboning of skinned chickens; (3) mechanical deboning of whole chickens; (4) mechanical deboning of skinned chickens. The meat was packaged in polyethylene bags, frozen and stored at -18 °C. Treatments 2 and 4 resulted in the lowest fat content. Some minerals, e.g. Fe, Na, Al, K, and Mg did not vary among the four products, while others, e.g. Ca, Zn and Mn were significantly higher in Treatments 3 and 4 compared with Treatments 1 and 2. Cholesterol content was directly proportional to fat content; Treatment 3 gave the highest cholesterol content, while the lowest cholesterol level resulted from Treatment 2. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) determinations to evaluate oxidative rancidity of fat in the samples showed that Treatments 1 and 3 gave significantly higher values than Treatments 2 and 4.