A Comparative Evaluation of Textured Wheat Ingredients and Soy Proteins in the Quality and Acceptability of Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets are commonly made with varying levels of textured vegetable proteins such as soy and wheat, for their ability to bind water and their meat like conformation. This project compared textured wheat proteins and soy proteins at 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% in both emulsified and non-emulsified chicken nuggets. A total of 6,048 chicken nuggets were evaluated in replications for batter breader pickup (%), par fry yield (%), cook loss (%), L*, a*, b* color value, texture profile analysis, and sensory analysis. Analysis was conducted for all four concentrations of wheat and soy treatments then compared to each other and an all-white meat chicken nugget control. All data was analyzed with a ? <0.05 using SAS with PROC GLM and Duncan?s MRT, except for sensory data which was analyzed as a complete randomized block design using analysis of variance with a ? <0.05, and was analyzed using SAS with PROC GLM. Results indicated that no notable trends were apparent in the quality testing. A trained sensory panel determined that Soy flavor was more detectable at 20% and 30% than wheat flavor was at similar levels. The results indicate that wheat proteins can replace soy proteins for functional properties in both emulsified and non-emulsified chicken nuggets at all concentrations evaluated. It was also determined that wheat proteins could be used at levels up to 30% without imparting a noticeable flavor.