Immersion freezing as a promising strategy for enhancing the quality stability of frozen precooked chicken breast

s The industrial application of precooked poultry is hindered by quality deterioration during short-term frozen storage (up to 30 days), while high-efficiency cryogenic methods like liquid nitrogen freezing remain costly. This study compared four freezing methods, air freezing (AF), -80 o C freezing (UF), ternary immersion freezing (IF, consisting of ethanol, 10% glucose solution and distilled water), and liquid nitrogen freezing (NF), to identify a sustainable approach for maintaining the quality stability of frozen precooked chicken breast. IF and NF produced smaller and more uniformly distributed ice crystals, effectively preserving sarcomere integrity and water-holding capacity while suppressing protein aggregation and lipid oxidation. After 30 days of frozen storage, IF maintained similar physicochemical stability as NF but with substantially lower operational costs. These findings demonstrate that IF provides a cost- and energy-efficient alternative to cryogenic freezing, offering new insights into the sustainable processing of high-quality precooked poultry products.