Characteristics of low-fat beefburger as influenced by various types of wheat fibers

Abstract

Hydrated wheat fibers (bran and white and red beeswings) were added at three levels (5, 10 and 15%) to beefburger instead of fat and evaluated for chemical, physical, caloric values and sensory traits. Uncooked and cooked beefburgers formulated with wheat fibers were higher ( p ≤ 0.05) in moisture, protein and carbohydrate and lower ( p ≤ 0.05) in fat than that of control. However, ash content was not increased ( p > 0.05) by the addition of wheat fibers. The cholesterol content of uncooked and cooked beefburgers decreased as level of wheat fibers increased or fat content decreased. The addition of wheat fibers reduced the cholesterol content by about 6–45% for uncooked and cooked beefburgers. The caloric values of uncooked and cooked beefburgers were lower ( p ≤ 0.05) than that of control by about 6–42%. The cooking yield and reduction in diameter of beefburgers were significantly ( p ≤ 0.05) improved by the addition of wheat fibers. The addition of red and white beeswings showed an improvement in the texture trait. Colour traits, tenderness, juiciness, connective tissue amount, beef flavour intensity and overall palatability were not affected by the addition of wheat fibers to beefburgers. Hydrated wheat fibers can be used successfully as a fat substitute in ground meat products.