Integration of Agroindustrial Co-Products as Functional Food Ingredients: Cactus Pear (O puntia ficus indica ) Flour and Pineapple (A nanas comosus ) Peel Flour as Fiber Source in Cooked Sausages Inoculated with Lactic Acid Bacteria

Abstract

Fruit peels are agroindustrial co-products that can be employed as a source of dietary fiber and bioactive compounds with an effect on the physicochemical and structural characteristics of cooked meat products. The potential of these fruit peels as a functional ingredient in cooked meat products was evaluated. Yield, moisture, expressible moisture, oxidative rancidity and textural profile analysis, besides electron scanning microscopy, were determined in cooked sausages inoculated with thermotolerant lactic acid bacteria. Cactus pear peen flour increased the moisture in the sausages, but in inoculated sausages, lower expressible moisture was observed, resulting in harder but less cohesive and less resilient structure. Cactus pear peel flour decreased the oxidative rancidity during storage. Microstructure analysis showed that the production of exopolysaccharides by the employed strain could explain the differences in the texture results. The use of fruit peels as a source of bioactive compounds (fiber, antioxidants and prebiotic) enhanced the development of thermotolerant lactic acid bacteria in cooked sausages during storage. Practical Applications Fruit peels become an environmental issue due first to the large volume that is generated during their process, generating large amount of organic matter. These co-products are a cheap source of bioactive compounds, such as fiber, prebiotics and antioxidants. In this research, cactus pear peel flour and pineapple peel flour were employed as a functional extensor in cooked meat sausages, inoculated with thermotolerant lactic acid bacteria, in order to promote the development of a symbiotic cooked meat product. Fiber content in both types of flour increased water retention, decreasing oxidative rancidity as well. The use of these types of flour in the inoculated sausages led to changes in textural properties, which could be due to the growth of thermotolerant lactic acid bacteria during storage. In this view, fruit peels could be employed as a source of bioactive compounds (fiber and antioxidants) that can enhance the development of beneficial bacteria after and before processing, such as thermotolerant lactic acid bacteria.