PSV-3 Evaluation of Functional Properties of Chitin as a Novel Non-Meat Ingredient for Manufacturing Meat Emulsions

Abstract

Abstract There has been a growing demand for developing naturally occurring non-meat ingredients, which could replace or reduce synthetic additives that have been used extensively in manufacturing processed meat products. Chitin, which is a major component of crustacean shells and a precursor of chitosan, is the second most abundant polysaccharide followed by cellulose. While some functional properties of chitin such as water/fat binding capacity and emulsifying ability have been reported, there are almost little to no studies determining the efficacy of chitin as a non-meat ingredient. The objective of this study was to evaluate the functional properties of chitins as a novel non-meat ingredient for manufacturing emulsified sausages. Fresh pork hind leg and pork back fat from 9 carcasses at 4 d postmortem were obtained. The trimmed pork hind legs were randomly assigned into three independent batches for emulsion and sausage production. Chitins were extracted from chitin-like material (CLM) from two different crustacean shell sources, such as crawfish (CF) and blue crab (BC). The CLM were extracted and used in the following order: drying-deproteinization (1% calcium oxide)-demineralization (2N HCl)-deacetylation (6M NaOH). For the emulsion and sausage manufacturing, control was prepared with 70% raw meat, 18% backfat, 10% water, 1.5% sodium chloride and 0.5% sodium phosphate. The treatments were prepared with 70% raw meat, 18% backfat, 10% water, 1.5% sodium chloride, 0.2% phosphate, and 0.5% CLM. The functional properties of CLM were evaluated by measuring binding capacity, emulsion capacity, and color attributes. For the evaluation of meat batter and emulsified sausage products, instrumental color, texture profile analysis, emulsion stability, cooking loss, and pH were measured. The data analysis was conducted by mixed model, and least squares means for all traits were separated (F-test, P < 0.05) by using least significant differences. No significant difference in the color attributes of meat batter between the control and the treatments (CF and BC) was found. The chitin added products from both CF and BC had a greater emulsion stability, where the treatment showed about two time greater in emulsion stability compared with control (P < 0.05). In particular, chitin extracted from CF showed greater water and fat binding capacity than CB (P < 0.05). In the emulsified sausage, the treatments showed significantly greater redness and hardness than control (P < 0.05). In particular, the CF showed greater cohesiveness and gumminess than control or BC (P < 0.05). The results of the present study showed the beneficial impacts of chitin addition for meat emulsions. The chitin inclusion improved the quality characteristics of emulsified sausage such as textural properties and emulsion stability, while less amount of phosphate was added compared with control. Additionally, chitin from crawfish had superior functional properties to that from blue crab, indicating different chitin functionality between crustacean shell sources.