In order to examine the effects of papain treatment on the texture (hardness, breaking, and swallowing) and palatability of chicken meat, minced chicken meat treated with different concentrations of papain was subjected to sensory evaluation. The evaluation showed that for all physical properties of texture, the meat treated with papain at 0.3% and 0.5% was significantly more tender than that treated with papain at 0.1% (P＜0.01). Further, the meat treated with papain at 0.1% and 0.3% retained a relatively good taste. These results indicated that the appropriate concentration range of papain is at least greater than 0.1% to less than 0.3% from the viewpoint of a good texture and the palatability of chicken meat. To optimize the conditions for papain treatment, meat treated with and without 0.2% papain was also subjected to sensory evaluation. As expected, for all physical properties of texture, the meat treated with papain was significantly more tender than untreated meat (P＜0.05), whereas meat tenderization had little effect. Morphological observation of the chicken meat revealed that papain treatment promoted a separation of muscle cells from muscle bundles and a weakening of connective tissue, starting from a very stable level. In addition, an increase of papain concentration promoted endomysium disruption, and at a papain concentration of 0.5%, the endomysium disappeared. These results are consistent with those of the sensory evaluation of the textures and palatability of papain-treated chicken meat, respectively.