Evaluation of the quality and nutritional value of meat snacks

Abstract

Preservation of health has ceased to be the sphere of attention of only medicine. This problem has become one with household ones. This determines the direction, priorities and development of the latest food technologies. Nutrition directly affects the human body all along life. In the beginning it was enough to simply follow the principles of healthy eating. Today it has become clear that striving for an ideal creates false interpretations with negative results (nutrient deficiencies) due to excessive food restriction. Therefore, the aim of the research was to determine the indicators of quality and nutritional value of meat snacks, as products of deep processing, which are a source of important nutrients, which will refute the critical attitude of consumers. Physico-chemical, microbiological, and organoleptic research methods were used for its implementation. Experiments were conducted using chicken meat as a raw material and meat snacks based on it. According to the results of the physical and chemical analysis, it was established that the nutritional value of the product increases after the technological processing of the raw materials – the protein content in the snacks increases by 40.18 %. A decrease in fat by 1.41 % indicates the dietary characteristics of ready to eat meat snacks. But the high salt content (2.11 %) significantly limits their consumption due to the risk of oversaturation of the body with sodium. During the organoleptic evaluation, it was established that all the studied samples had a dry, clean surface, uniform color, no foreign, unnatural shades, a pleasant smell with the aroma of spices, but a fragile texture. Microbiological analysis of the samples showed that mostly pathogenic microflora was absent, except for sulfite-reducing clostridia, which were detected at 1∙101 in 0.01 g. The obtained results practically make it possible to evaluate the useful and dietary properties of meat snacks and the reasons for choosing this product during the formation of a personal diet in accordance with individual preferences and beliefs regarding the principles of clean, healthy nutrition. In addition, a critical control point has been determined, according to which consumers should control the amount of meat snacks consumed, and manufacturers should improve the recipe in order to reduce the salt content in the product.