Abstract
Frankfurters are one of the most demanded meat products in the world due to their low cost and good taste. However, they contain up to 30% animal fat, which is negative for the consumer’s health. Moreover, high-fat contents could also decrease frankfurter sensory properties, since it accelerates the rancidity of the products. This fact is highly dependent on the fatty acids composition since the unsaturation promotes oxidative reactions. Currently, strategies have been developed to replace animal fat with vegetable oils or the inclusion of new raw materials. The murta (Ugni molinae Turcz), an endemic plant in Chile, is a specie that contains high levels of flavonoids in its fruits and has a pleasant flavor, as well as a sweet and floral aroma. However, the effect of the addition of these fruits in the formulation of meat products has been scarcely studied. The present study aims to reduce the use of synthetic additives using natural ones (murta powder). Therefore, this research evaluated the influence of the inclusion of murta on the chemical, sensory, and instrumental parameters of traditional frankfurters. Three batches of frankfurters were manufactured: control sausages without additives (T0); samples with chemical antioxidant (T1); and with murta fruit powder (T2). The chemical composition, physicochemical parameters and sensory properties were determined. Frankfurters made with murta (T2) presented middle values in energy, moisture and sodium compared with control. Also, the reformulated sausages (T2) presented the lowest water holding capacity, redness (a*) and yellowness and the highest values of fat and carbohydrates. Regarding fatty acids content, the most important changes were observed in the C18:0 and C14:0 (T2 presented the lowest values) and C18:2n-6 (T2 had the highest values), but minimal differences were observed in the total SFA, MUFA and PUFA content. Cholesterol content from T2 were similar to the control samples, and T1 presented the highest values. Although these differences, both chemical and nutritional quality of all frankfurters manufactured in the present study were very similar among treatments. Finally, according to the sensory analysis, T2 presented better acceptability and sensory characteristics compared with the other treatments (p ≤ 0.05). Therefore, the inclusion of murta in the production of frankfurters could be a strategy to improve the sensory characteristics of this product with minimal changes in chemical and nutritional properties. However, the effect of murta on oxidative stability and frankfurter shelf-life should be studied in depth in future research.
Highlights
Nowadays, since consumers are increasingly aware of the relationship between food and health, there is a growing trend in the market towards the consumption of healthy foods, with improved nutritional characteristics and elaborated with functional ingredients [1,2,3]
The production and consumption of frankfurters have led researchers and industry to focus to develop new technologies for the preparation of these sausages with reduced fat, vegetable additives, fiber incorporation etc. [1,5,6,40,41] being an opportunity to improve the nutritional quality of the final product and offer to the consumers a healthy and functional meat product
The principal fatty acids in quantitative terms were oleic acid (C18:1n-9), followed by palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0) and linoleic acid (C18:2n-6). The sum of these four fatty acids represented more than 96% of the total fatty acids identified in all samples. These four main fatty acid and their contents agree with the results found by Armenteros et al [1]
Summary
Since consumers are increasingly aware of the relationship between food and health, there is a growing trend in the market towards the consumption of healthy foods, with improved nutritional characteristics and elaborated with functional ingredients [1,2,3]. The high fat amounts used in the traditional frankfurters and cooked sausages [5,6,7] resulted in oxidative degradation [8] and reduce the self-live during the storage and quality characteristics in terms of flavor, texture, and other functionalities [6]. These degradative reactions are considered the main deterioration process in the meat industry [8]. It is important to develop functional meat products with a balance in fat content, fatty acid composition, cholesterol and sodium, without affecting their sensory quality and technological characteristics, contributing to their nutritional quality and consumer health [16,17]
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