Abstract: This study aimed to characterize the color change of dried chicken breast for pet food during production and storage, and to develop techniques that can effectively control the product quality problems associated with color change. A comparative test on color preservation efficacy of three antioxidants, including butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), citric acid and sodium pyrosulfite, during the storage process of dried chicken breast was conducted via three- factor quadratic general rotary unitized design method. The results of single factor test showed that the best color preservation performance was observed in BHT followed by sodium pyrosulfite, and that of citric acid was the worst; the compound test results demonstrated that the combination of 0. 02% BHT, 0. 10% citrate acid and 0. 05% sodium pyrosulfite displayed the best color preservation efficacy and could effectively alleviate the problem of color change during the production and storage of dried chicken breast for pet food.

Key words: pet food, chicken meat, brown stain, color preservation