Effects of cooking methods on fatty acid composition in different chicken parts

This study examined the fat content and the fatty acid composition of various chicken portions (leg skinless/skin-on, neck, and tenderloin) in uncooked state and following different cooking methods (oven, pan, boiling). Regardless of the cooking method, the neck had the highest crude fat content (11,980.61-14,374.45 mg/100 g), followed by the skinless leg (7,947.43-9,826.25 mg/100 g) and tenderloin (1,040.28-1,292.13 mg/100 g). The skin-on leg had a higher fat content (11,138.89-14,198.48 mg/100 g) than the skinless leg. In all portions, oleic acid [18:1 (n-9)] was the most predominant fatty acid, followed by palmitic acid (16:0) and linoleic acid [18:2 (n-6)], collectively comprising approximately 80% of total fatty acids. Cooking methods had minimal effects on fatty acid composition but significantly influenced total fat content. In the neck and skinless leg, fat content was highest after pan roasting (p<0.05), followed by oven roasting and boiling. In contrast, in the skin-on leg, fat content was highest in oven roasting, followed by boiling and pan roasting. This difference is attributed to the high fat and low moisture content in chicken skin, where pan roasting generates localized high temperatures, causing relatively large fat loss. Additionally, in the raw skin-on leg, both myristoleic acid [14:1 (n-5)] and palmitoleic acid [16:1 (n-7)] approximately increased 1.7-fold, exceeding the increase in total fat content (1.6-fold) compared to the skinless leg.