Air fryer is a new, environmentally friendly, and healthy method for processing precooked chicken breast products. This study is aimed at investigating the marinating times (12 or 24 h) and air frying times on the quality attributes of chicken breast products prepared with two flavor profiles: cumin barbecue (CB) flavor and garlic and honey (GH). The changes in product color, texture, sensory evaluation, lipid oxidation (TBARS), and Maillard reaction products ( A 294 / A 420 ) of chicken breast products with two flavors were studied. The results demonstrated that prolonged air frying led to darker surface color, increased hardness and chewiness, and elevated TBARS and A 294 / A 420 values, whereas springiness and sensory descriptive scores initially increased and subsequently decreased. Marinating time had no significant effect on the color, texture, sensory properties, TBARS, or Maillard reaction products of the product ( p > 0.05). Sensory evaluation revealed that optimal processing parameters were flavor‐dependent. The highest consumer preference for the CB flavor was achieved at 6 min of air frying, whereas the GH flavor achieved the highest preference at 10 min. This research provides data‐driven support for the development of “air fryer‐specific” precooked chicken breast products, enabling the customization of processing parameters to individual flavor formulations.
Liu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.