Enhancing the quality and antioxidant properties of beef burgers with dried Hibiscus sabdariffa L. leaves: Characterization and sensory evaluation

Abstract

The demand for natural antioxidants has increased as research efforts aim to identify various plant sources that could be considered sustainable alternatives to preserve the quality of meat and its derivatives. This work intended to develop beef burger formulations with different percentages of dried Hibiscus sabdariffa L. leaves and characterize them through physical, chemical, and sensory analysis. Four beef burger formulations were prepared: F1 - with no added antioxidant, F2 - with added commercial antioxidant, F3 - with the addition of 4 g/kg of hibiscus leaves, and F4 - with the addition of 8 g/kg of hibiscus leaves, which were subjected to analysis of proximate composition, bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds, total antioxidant activity, morphology, texture profile, and sensory profile, as perceived by students from a public school. The addition of hibiscus caused an increase in the ash (∼5%) and polyphenol content (∼15%) of the samples without the addition of antioxidants, reduced the redness of the samples but did not affect the food matrix observed in the micrographs or the hardness, gumminess, and chewiness parameters. The in vitro digestion process improved the accessibility of polyphenols (211.96%–248.31%) and the total antioxidant activity by the ABTS•+ radical (224.77%–281.63%) in all samples. From a sensory standpoint, the samples showed global acceptance levels ranging from “indifferent” to “loved it”. Adding hibiscus was linked to the terms “greenish brown color” and “aftertaste”. The F3 showed promising results in physical and chemical analyses and less interference in its sensorial attributes from adding hibiscus leaves.