Abstract：In this study, Lanshan chicken, a local breed in Nantong, Jiangsu province, was used to produce dry-cured chicken.
Box-Behnken experimental design was applied to investigate the effects of initial air-drying temperature, drying time and salt amount
on physiochemical properties and proteolysis of dry-cured chicken. Based on the models established, there was a significant positive
correlation between the overall sensory quality of dry-cured chicken and each process condition (P＜0.05). The optimal conditions to
produce dry-cured chicken were addition of 2.6% by weight of salt and air-drying at 12.5 ℃ for 93 h as demonstrated by regression
analysis, yielding maximum overall sensory score of 92, a total free amino acid content of 1.54 mg/100 g, a proteolysis index of
10.33%, a water content of 58.42%, a shear force of 3.62 kg/cm2, and a salt content of 3.87%.
2013, Vol. 27 
