Chemical Changes in Meat Prepared by Using Microwave Compared to Conventional Methods

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the effect of microwave cooking in nutrients components, fatty acids and amino acids composition of white and black chicken meat (breast &thigh) and Common Carp fish (Cyprinus carpio) as compared with some conventional methods, i.e. boiling, pressure and roasting for chicken meat, frying and roasting for common carp fillets . The following results were obtained: Uncooked chicken breast meat samples had higher contents of moisture, protein, ash, P, K and Mg, but lower contents of fat, Na, Ca, Fe, Zn and Cu than uncooked thigh meat. The percentage of saturated fatty acids (SFA) of chicken meat (breast and thigh) was higher than the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (USFA). The oleic acid, linoleic and palmitoleic were the major unsaturated fatty acids of two kind of chicken meat. Meanwhile, palmitic and stearic acids were predominating saturated fatty acids. However, the percentage of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids was higher in the thigh than in the breast.