Table 2. Effects of addition time of NaCl and sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) and cooking rate on CIE L* a* b* values, rNIT, and rNIC in cooked ground chicken breasts

Main effects	Dependent variables¹⁾
Main effects	CIE L*	CIE a*	CIE b*	rNIT	rNIC
Treatment (T)²⁾
Treatment 1	82.12^a	3.49^b	9.13^a	1.0131^b	1.0094
Treatment 2	75.57^b	3.23^c	8.36^b	1.0164^ab	1.0089
Treatment 3	75.76^b	3.34^bc	7.95^c	1.0200^a	1.0083
Treatment 4	75.00^b	3.62^a	7.87^c	1.0200^a	1.0085
SEM	(0.23)	(0.19)	(0.08)	(0.0020)	(0.0005)
Cooking rate (C)³⁾
Fast	77.27^a	3.33^b	8.32	1.0167	1.0088
Slow	76.95^b	3.50^a	8.34	1.0180	1.0088
SEM	(0.23)	(0.18)	(0.06)	(0.0017)	(0.0004)

Dependent variables: CIE L* (lightness), CIE a* (redness), CIE b* (yellowness), rNIT (reflectance estimator of nitrosyl hemochrome, (%R650nm/%R570nm, higher ratio more), and rNIC (reflectance estimator of nicotinamide hemochrome, %R537nm/%R553nm, higher ratio more).
Treatments: (1) no salt added, stored for 7 d before being cooked; (2) NaCl and STPP added on 0 d and stored for 7 d before being cooked; (3) NaCl added on 0 d, stored for 7 d, STPP added on 7 d, and then cooked; (4) stored for 7 d before NaCl and STPP added on 7 d, and then cooked.
Cooking rates: Samples were cooked to 75°C in a 90°C water bath (fast cooking, 5.67°C/min), or by loading the tubes into a 50°C water bath and immediately setting the water bath to 90°C (slow cooking, 2.16°C/min).
Means within a column with unlike superscripts are different (p<0.05).