Healthier chicken nuggets incorporated with chia (Salvia hispanica L.) flour and partial replacement of sodium chloride with calcium chloride

Abstract

Chicken nuggets were reformulated by substituting the chicken skin with chia flour and partially substituting the NaCl with CaCl₂. Four treatments were processed: Control – 1.5 g/100 g NaCl, without the addition of chia flour; CaCl₂ – 75% substitution of NaCl by CaCl₂; Chia – 50% replacement of chicken skin by chia flour; Chia+CaCl₂ – 75% replacement of NaCl by CaCl₂ and 50% substitution of chicken skin by chia flour. The protein content increased with the incorporation of chia flour. Treatments CaCl₂ and Chia+CaCl₂ presented reduced sodium content. Chicken nuggets containing chia flour showed an increase of α-linolenic acid and can be labelled as “high omega-3 content”. Formulations Chia and Chia+CaCl₂ presented lower sensory acceptance among the four formulations, but about 50% of consumers still considered them acceptable. Thus, the Chia+CaCl₂ formulation could be recommended to consumers seeking healthier meat products, due to its high omega-3 and reduced sodium content.