Physico-Chemical Properties and Storage Stability of an Emulsion as a Fat Replacer in Meat Analogs during the Freezing Storage

Abstract

This study determined the effects of physicochemical and microbial properties of emulsion as a fat replacer in meat analogs during freezing storage. Meat analogs were prepared with different fat replacers: vegetable oil (O) for control, oil in water emulsion (E), and non-emulsified oil in water emulsion (EC) for emulsion control. After that, meat analogs were stored for 0.5, one, three, and six months at −18 °C and −60 °C. The results showed that the drip loss of all samples was not significantly different (p > 0.05). However, the liquid holding capacity of EC and E was significantly higher than that of O (p < 0.05). Additionally, the microstructures of meat analogs of E and EC were smaller with denser pore sizes than O. This explains the significantly lower hardness of E and EC compared to O (p < 0.05). Overall, E showed superior physiochemical and sensory quality. During the storage, the stability of chemical properties, such as volatile basic nitrogen and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, showed no significant changes (p > 0.05). Moreover, the microbial studies (total viable counts and Escherichia coli count) suggested that meat analogs did not deteriorate during the preparation and storage. Thus, this study suggests that emulsion-type fat replacers influence meat analogs’ physicochemical and sensorial properties. However, these properties are not influenced by the storage temperature and duration.

Development of plant‐based burger patties with pea protein isolate and barnyard millet flour and its storage stability in aerobic and vacuum packaging

“…Water provides the medium for chemical reactions, including lipid oxidation and microbiological reactions, leading to the quality deterioration of food (Jeong et al, 2022). The moisture content of PPIs–BMF plant‐based burger patties packaged in aerobic packaging showed an increase of 5.29% from 14.76% on day 0 to 20.05% on day 12 of storage (Figure 1b).…”