Improvement of color, texture and food safety of ready-to-eat high pressure-heat treated duck breast.

Since high-temperature cooking (>95 °C) deteriorates duck meat quality, a lower temperature (70 °C) with high-pressure (400 MPa) were investigated. Duck breast was subjected to salting/pickling treatment prior to heating-alone (70 °C) or HPP with heating (P + H) for 10 or 20 min. These were compared with a Cooked-control (80 °C at 0.1 MPa). Compared with Control, the P + H method resulted in improved meat color (p < 0.05). Low-field NMR indicated that P + H contributed to protonation due to inward shift of proton equilibrium. Moreover, P + H significantly decreased MDA equivalents (TBARS) and carbonyl contents, but increased sulfhydryl contents. The protonation under P + H produced an antioxidant-like effect due to strengthening of H-bonds and recycling of thiols. PCA revealed that changes in proton relaxation of P + H samples affected extents of lipid and protein oxidation, hence influenced product color and texture. This P + H method exhibited potential as a minimal thermal processing method for duck meat, with enhanced product quality and safety.