WATER ABSORPTION BY CHILLER CARCASSES COOLED BY IMMERSION IN INDUSTRIAL CHILLER: LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Brazil is one of the largest chicken meat producers in the world, with differentiated processes and rigorous inspection until the product reaches the final consumer. The cooling of chicken carcasses is carried out in Brazil through the process of immersion in cold water in continuous coolers known as chillers. The absorption of water by the chicken carcasses during this process is one of the quality characteristics that must be monitored and controlled, since this influences the other quality characteristics of the meat in terms of economic value, in addition to being a variable evaluated by the inspection bodies of the Government. This article aims to understand the phenomena of heat transfer and water absorption by the carcasses in chillers through a literature review, made with selected articles and monographs in academic repositories and University repositories found online. It is concluded, after performing a literature review, that the weight of the birds, immersion time, water temperature, dripping time, management of post-bleeding procedures and the pH of the water itself influence the rates of water absorption by carcasses.