Effects of incorporation of ground mustard on quality attributes of chicken nuggets.

Chicken nuggets were prepared from spent hen meat using ground mustard as phyto-preservative without impairing the sensory attributes of the product and also the antioxidant and antimicrobial efficacy of mustard on keeping quality of the product was assessed. The emulsion stability (%), cooking yield (%) and moisture content (%) of the product containing ground mustard differed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) from the control. Nuggets containing ground mustard maintained significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher sensory scores throughout the storage period (at 4 ± 1 °C for 15 days). The pH as well as thiobarbituric acid value increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with advancement of storage period. Ground mustard maintained significantly lower thiobarbituric acid values throughout the observation period than the control. Microbiological studies revealed significant increase in total plate count and lipolytic count with the length of storage period. Microbial counts were found to be significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher in control than in nuggets containing ground mustard.