ASPECTOS DA RETENÇÃO DE ÁGUA EM CARCAÇAS DE FRANGO: UMA REVISÃO

Abstract

Pre-cooling is one of the stages that includes the technological processing of poultry slaughter, whose main function is the rapid reduction of the temperature of the chicken carcasses. Cooling acts directly on the quality of the final product, since the methods used to remove heat reduce bacterial proliferation and the multiplication of potential pathogens that may deteriorate the carcasses. The concept of quality is quite common and plausible in food industries and commerce, when it comes to food quality and safety, the consumer does not think twice about taking the product. Various types of inspections are carried out, and yet the inspection agencies face fraud of all kinds. Several consumers complain about the accumulation of water when thawing poultry meats. Thus, in order to control this situation and suppress the frauds that many processing establishments carry out, and knowing that the carcasses gain weight when subjected to the cooling process, the Dripping Test (DT) method was established, which intends to determine the amount of water absorbed during the industrial process. Most poultry processing industries in Brazil also adopt the pre-cooling system by immersion in water, because it can be effective in reducing microorganisms. Several studies on the water content retained in frozen chicken carcasses have been carried out in several regions of the country, with the majority of the samples having averages higher than the value stipulated by the legislation. Thus, this work aims to present a review on the aspects related to water retention in chicken carcasses and the methods used for the measurement, control and prevention of fraud.