## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Thermal Treatment Yield and Chemical Composition of Chicken meatballs  
The amount of weight loss in chicken meatballs during baking, which was expressed as the thermal treatment yield, did not significantly change (\(p\) > 0.05) due to the modifications of the recipe composition. The thermal treatment yield of the chicken meatballs was found to be 78.8-80.5% (Table 1).  
In previous studies, the yield of RTE poultry meat products was determined by calculating the weight loss of these products after heat treatment. In the study by [PERSON] et al. [43], the weight losses determined in poultry meatballs subjected to baking were on average 13.6-14.4%. The authors reported that these values were typical of products from minced meat which have been baked. In another study [44], it was confirmed that the cooking losses of meatballs depended on the method of heat treatment applied.  
According to [PERSON] et al. [45], the consumer perception of the quality of meat products is determined by their nutritional quality which is related to the chemical composition. These authors highlighted that it is very important to estimate the content of chemical compounds (basic nutrients) in various meat products and to disseminate this knowledge because negative stigmatization and beliefs with no scientific base greatly influ  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Quality Feature**} & \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Treatment 1**} \\ \cline{2-6}  & **Control** & **SD** & **SEE40** & **SEE70** & **SEO** \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Thermal treatment**} & \multirow{2}{*}{80.5 a \(\pm\) 1.16} & 79.1 a \(\pm\) 3.11 & 79.0 a \(\pm\) 0.51 & 78.8 a \(\pm\) 1.00 & 79.0 a \(\pm\) 2.47 \\
**Moisture content (\%)** & 62.4 a \(\pm\) 2.57 & 62.3 a \(\pm\) 1.83 & 62.7 a \(\pm\) 0.68 & 63.3 a \(\pm\) 1.70 & 62.7 a \(\pm\) 0.32 \\
**Protein content (\%)** & 18.3 a \(\pm\) 0.79 & 18.5 a \(\pm\) 0.25 & 18.4 a \(\pm\) 0.30 & 18.4 a \(\pm\) 0.35 & 18.3 a \(\pm\) 0.35 \\
**Fat content (\%)** & 18.0 a \(\pm\) 3.38 & 17.9 a \(\pm\) 0.56 & 17.8 a \(\pm\) 2.41 & 17.2 a \(\pm\) 0.10 & 17.8 a \(\pm\) 1.93 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Thermal treatment yield and chemical composition of chicken meatballs containing MSM from chickens (mean values \(\pm\) standard deviation; \(n\) = 3).  
ence consumers' attitudes toward meat consumption. In our opinion, this is a particularly important issue in relation to meat products containing MSM in the recipe composition.  
In terms of the content of basic chemical components, there were no significant (\(p>0.05\)) differences between chicken meatballs, regardless of the type of sage preparation included in the recipe composition (Table 1). The moisture content in chicken meatballs was found to be about 62.5%, and the content of basic nutrients, namely, protein and fat, was over 18% or about 18%, respectively.  
The basic chemical composition of chicken meatballs determined in our study was similar to that found in other RTE products from chickens [30; 43]. However, the meatballs assessed here contained slightly more fat and less moisture, which was most likely due to the use of MSM which is a raw material with a relatively high fat content. Studies have shown that the fat content in MSM from chickens may vary from 14.07% [46] to 20.41% [7].