To sustain the increased chicken production and utilization of chicken mince production. This research focused on standardizing the formulation for chicken keema and increasing its shelf life using preservatives (citric acid, vinegar, and sodium benzoate) at refrigerated temperatures.

The prepared keema was preserved with different concentrations of citric acid (0.5-1.5%), vinegar (5-15%), and sodium benzoate (100-250 ppm). The keema was packed in retortable pouches and sterilized at 120 ºC for 15-20 min. at 15 PSI pressure. The sterilized keema was stored at a refrigerated condition to study its storage stability and analyzed for physiological, microbiological, biochemical, and sensory attributes at regular intervals of 10 days during storage. During storage, no significant changes were observed in proximate composition except moisture content. However, the control sample spoiled after 10 days of refrigerated storage. An increasing trend was recorded in the pH and TBARS values during the storage of almost all samples. However, the sample preserved with 1% citric acid recorded the lowest TPC (2.2 × 10⁴) after 30 days of storage and was acceptable during sensory evaluation. Thus the shelf life of chicken keema was improved from 10 days to 30 days by the use of 1% citric acid along with the retorting process.