Formulation and shelf life of duck meat stick

Abstract

A study was conducted to examine the feasibility of formulation of duck meat sticks from deboned minced meat of desi spent ducks and to evaluate its shelf-life. The ready-to-cook yield, total loss and meat to' bone ratio averaged 70.94 ± 0.40 per cent, 29.06 ± 0.40 per cent and 2.47 ± 0.02 respectively for desi spent ducks (Two years of age) used for the study. The mean per cent abdominal fat was 0.63 ± 0.02. The duck meat sticks prepared as per two recipes were kept under frozen (-15°C) storage upto 60 days. Representative samples were analysed qualitatively and evaluated organoleptically by a taste panel at zero, 15, 30, 40, 50 and 60 days of storage under frozen conditions. It was observed that under different days of storage the proximate components viz., moisture, protein, fat and total ash of the product remained unaltered. At -15°C the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) number increased as the storage period increased. The total bacterial count decreased significantly (P>0.01) at -15°C with increase in the duration of storage. The duck meat sticks prepared by both the recipes were found to be equally good and acceptable organoleptically. The mean per cent of the cooking loss decreased with increase in the length of storage. It was observed that 15.25 and 15.50 meat sticks could be made from each 1000 g of deboned minced duck meat using recipes I and 11 respectively. The cost of each duck meat stick weighing 100 g was found to be Rs.5.63 and Rs.5.73 for recipes I and 11 respectively. From the above findings it was concluded that a highly acceptable, nutritious, ready-to-cook duck meat product could be prepared from deboned minced spent duck meat. Under frozen (-15°C) conditions, the product could be stored upto 60 days without any quality deterioration and consumer acceptance did not vary on storage of the product.