Investigating the effects of using tragacanth gum in batter on turkey nugget properties and comparison with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) gum

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of tragacanth gum in batter on the characteristics of turkey nuggets in comparison with control samples and samples containing CMC gum. The dimensions of samples that made from free fat turkey breast meat were 4×2×1.5 cm. Samples were covered with batter by immersion method (4.5:10 solid to liquid ratio). After preparation, turkey nuggets were fried in 170°C for 0, 1, 2, 4 and 6 min. The results showed that time of frying and composition of batter had significant effects on volume changes of samples. The volume changes in the control and CMC-batter samples were similar and decreased during frying, but volume of samples with tragacanth gum first increased and then slightly decreased at the end of frying process. Generally, with increasing the time of frying, the density of samples decreased .Based on the obtained results, tragacanth gum samples had the most yield and batter uptake but CMC gum samples had the most Toasted flour uptake. At the end of frying, samples with gums had higher moisture and lower oil content compared to control samples.