Table 3. Effect of synthetic and natural tenderizers on coliforms, psychrophilic count and sensory quality of RSHS stored under aerobic packaging at refrigeration temperature (4±1°C) (Mean±SE)

Treatment	0	7	14	21
Microbial quality
Coliform count (Log₁₀CFU/g)
C	ND	ND	1.76±0.15^aB	1.97±0.16^bB
T1	ND	ND	1.79±0.24^aB	1.99±0.18^bB
T2	ND	ND	1.49±0.10^aA	1.73±0.07^bA
T3	ND	ND	1.46±0.15^aA	1.82±0.16^bAB
Psychrophilic count (Log₁₀ CFU/g)
C	ND	1.86±0.164^aB	2.24±0.16^bB	2.70±0.13^cB
T1	ND	1.91±0.177^aB	2.21±0.09^abB	2.60±0.31^bB
T2	ND	1.48±0.150^aA	2.08±0.20^abA	2.37±0.20^bA
T3	ND	1.64±0.059^aAB	2.16±0.20^bAB	2.47±0.17^cAB
Sensory quality
Appearance and colour
C	7.11±0.03^b	7.06±0.04^b	6.35±0.09^a	NP
T1	7.06±0.08^b	7.03±0.08^b	6.52±0.11^a	NP
T2	7.16±0.16^c	7.02±0.08^c	6.42±0.10^b	6.02±0.13^a
T3	7.18±0.06^c	6.98±0.06^bc	6.52±0.13^b	6.14±0.06^a
Flavour
C	7.07±0.12^bAB	6.88±0.12^bAB	6.11±0.11^aA	NP
T1	7.03±0.07^bAB	6.93±0.07^bAB	6.21±0.14^aAB	NP
T2	7.22±0.06^cB	7.17±0.07^cB	6.55±0.11^bC	6.17±0.13^aB
T3	6.81±0.07^cA	6.73±0.07^cA	6.31±0.10^bB	5.80±0.19^aA
Juiciness
C	7.07±0.12^bAB	6.88±0.12^bAB	6.19±0.11^aA	NP
T1	7.03±0.07^bAB	6.93±0.07^bAB	6.21±0.14^aA	NP
T2	7.22±0.06^cB	7.17±0.07^cB	6.52±0.13^bB	6.11±0.13^a
T3	6.81±0.07^cA	6.73±0.07^cA	6.31±0.12^bAB	5.97±0.19^a
Tenderness
C	7.01±0.12^bAB	6.91±0.11^b	6.34±0.14^aA	NP
T1	7.05±0.07^bAB	6.89±0.07^b	6.36±0.15^aA	NP
T2	7.25±0.06^cB	7.11±0.15^c	6.53±0.11^bB	6.10±0.05^a
T3	6.82±0.07^cA	6.80±0.07^c	6.30±0.09^bA	5.85±0.16^a
Overall acceptability
C	7.05±0.05^bAB	6.90±0.06^bAB	6.39±0.11^a	NP
T1	7.20±0.09^bAB	7.11±0.09^bB	6.28±0.11^a	NP
T2	7.25±0.04^cB	7.10±0.15^cB	6.42±0.17^b	6.11±0.05^aB
T3	6.85±0.02^cA	6.78±0.02^cA	6.29±0.06^b	5.85±0.10^aA

Means with different superscripts (^{a, b, c} and ^{A, B, C}) differ significantly (p<0.05) in a row and column respectively; n=6 for each treatment (C, control; T1, RSHS with 1.25% calcium chloride; T2, RSHS with 1.5% pineapple peel powder; T3, RSHS with 1.5% fig powder; ND, not detected; NP, not performed; RSHS, restructured spent hen meat slices.