Abstract
This study investigates the effects of sodium nitrite replacement by the sage essential oil (SEO), on the physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory quality of dry fermented sausages (DFS) during 225 days of storage. The SEO (0.00, 0.05 and 0.10 µL/g) was added in DFS batters formulated with different levels of pork back fat (15% and 25%) and sodium nitrite (0, 75 and 150 mg/kg). The inclusion of SEO had no negative impact on pH, color (instrumental and sensory) and texture parameters. Total plate counts were lower than 6 log CFU (colony forming units)/g in all samples throughout the storage. Furthermore, the addition of SEO at concentration of 0.05 µL/g provided acceptable TBARS (2-Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) values (<0.3 mg MDA (malondialdehyde)/kg) in the samples produced with reduced levels of sodium nitrite (0 and 75 mg/kg) without negative alternations on sensory attributes of odor and flavor. Generally, our findings confirmed that the usage of SEO could be a good solution to produce healthier DFS with reduced levels of sodium nitrite.
Highlights
Dry fermented sausages (DFS) represent a high-value dry cured meat product in European countries considering their unique eating quality and significant health benefit [1].DFS are manufactured by mixing minced meat and fat with table salt, spices and their extracts, sugars, additives, starter cultures, vitamins, fibers, etc. [2]
Our earlier studies exposed that the application of essential oils had a positive effect on the color of meat products produced with different levels of sodium nitrites [4,15,16]
Several other compounds detected in high content were camphor (20.73%), eucalyptol (12.13%), β-thujone (6.57%), borneol (4.26%) and bornyl acetate (2.42%), suggesting that oxygenated monoterpenes were the major terpenoid subgroup present in sage essential oil (SEO)
Summary
Dry fermented sausages (DFS) represent a high-value dry cured meat product in European countries considering their unique eating quality and significant health benefit [1].DFS are manufactured by mixing minced meat and fat with table salt, spices and their extracts, sugars, additives, starter cultures, vitamins, fibers, etc. [2]. Essential oils from different plant materials have attracted lots of attention from customers and the food industry owing to the wide range of bioactive compounds which possess both a significant health benefit [10,11,12] and strong antioxidant and antimicrobial potential in meat processing [3,4,13,14,15]. It should be highlighted that bioactive compounds, present in essential oils (e.g., terpenoids, polyphenols), in complex interaction with myoglobin enhanced the color of meat products [16] These results could be attributed to a lower oxidation of the iron atom within the heme group, and in consequence, a reduced formation of methemyoglobin [17]
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