Sensory Evaluation and Nutritional Profile of Chicken Nuggets Enriched with Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp)

Poor dietary habits among college students, such as high consumption of processed meats and low intake of vegetables, have been a growing concern. Recently, meat hybrids, which substitute a portion of meat with plant protein products, have emerged as a potential solution. This study aims to develop a meat hybrid using chicken and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) to formulate chicken nuggets and evaluate its sensory acceptability and nutritional characteristics. Cowpea is an underutilized, adaptable, and is a highly nutritious legume that is widely used to improve diets worldwide. Chicken nuggets were developed with varying proportions: a control (100% chicken) and three treatments: T1 (75% chicken: 25% cowpea), T2 (62.5% chicken: 37.5% cowpea), and T3 (50% chicken: 50% cowpea). Sensory evaluation was conducted with 104 participants using a 9-point hedonic scale. Results indicated high acceptability across all treatments, with an overall acceptability mean score of 7. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences (p<0.02) in sensory evaluation results among the control, T1, and T2 groups compared with T3. Proximate analysis of the control and T2 showed that the latter had twice the fiber content and 5% higher iron content than the control. However, T2 had 17% lower protein content (17.56 ± 0.44) than the control (21.18 ± 0.14), similar to other plant-based or hybrid protein alternatives. The findings showed that incorporating cowpea into chicken nuggets is highly acceptable to consumers, significantly enhances the product's nutritional profile, and offers substantial potential for expanding its applications and utilization.