Abstract

This study investigated the effects of diverse cooking methods, including stewing, barbecuing and deep-frying, on the quality attributes and digestive properties of chicken breast. Results showed that compared to raw sample, all cooked samples exhibited significant increases in hardness, chewiness, and shear force, with deep-frying yielding the highest values. Concurrently, cooking induced significant protein structural alterations evidenced by most severe denaturation in deep-fried samples with decreased total sulfhydryl groups and increased surface hydrophobicity. Protein degradation was highest in stewed samples, manifested as reduced particle size and elevated myofibrillar fragmentation. Under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, the degree of protein hydrolysis of chicken breast decreased from 70.45% in raw sample to 49.73% (stewed), 42.24% (barbecued), and 39.54% (deep-fried), respectively. Importantly, the digested peptides in stewed samples showed the lowest molecular weight (mean 1.68 kDa), the smallest number of amino acid residues (mean 14.22 aa), and the highest antioxidant activity. These results were mainly associated with a more favorable protein structural state for enzymatic breakdown. This study provides insights into the quality changes of chicken breast during processing and lays a theoretical foundation for evaluating the processing suitability of chicken meat.