Vacuum radio frequency drying: a novel method to improve the main qualities of chicken powders.

Vacuum radio frequency drying (VRFD) combining the advantages of RF heating with vacuum drying (VD) was applied to produce chicken powders. Drying time and some properties of VRFD the powders were compared with VD and microwave vacuum drying (MVD) (915 MHz and 2450 MHz). Results showed that the total drying time of VRFD chicken powders was the shortest (100 min) while that for VD powders was the longest (180 min). VRFD chicken powders exhibited the lowest hygroscopicity (2.17%), the highest water holding capacity (254.80%), and better color and taste. Besides, VRFD powders had maximum umami flavor among the obtained powders. Contrarily, the color and flavor of VD powders were the most undesirable. Additionally, VRFD had less effect on protein secondary structures compared with MVD. It was concluded that, VRFD possesses the necessary potential for use at industrial level in the production of chicken powders with high qualities. © Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2019.