Restructured low‐fat cooked ham containing liquid whey fortified with lactulose

Abstract

Restructured cooked hams formulated with liquid whey and 30 g kg of lactulose had minimal effects on the technological properties and sensory characteristics and, due to the possible benefits conferred by the prebiotic, is a potential alternative to provide meat products with prebiotic activity. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Sensory profile and technological characterization of boneless dry-cured ham with lactulose added as a prebiotic

“…Otherwise, the cohesiveness, adhesiveness and springiness did not change (p>0.05) with treatments. These changes were also observed by Oliveira et al [4] when evaluating hams with higher additions of lactulose (3%, 6%, and 10%). According to these authors, higher hardness and chewiness with the addition of lactulose could be due to the saccharides (glucose and galactose) and disaccharides (lactose) present in the syrup, which could retain water molecules forming colloidal solutions, which changes the texture of a system.…”

“…Even in the treatments containing higher amounts of lactulose (4% added), the amount of lactulose delivered per serving (1.26 g/40 g) was still below the minimum required (2.5 g/40 g) by the Brazilian legislation [16,27] for the product to be considered a "source of dietary fibre". However, Oliveira et al [4] emphasized that the application of lactulose as a prebiotic in food is restricted to low doses since in high amounts, it acts as a laxative (transitory laxative threshold was 0.26 g/kg body weight). In addition, studies suggest that the consumption of lactulose to exert prebiotic action in adults is effective at much lower concentrations (4 to 10 g/d) than the transitory laxative threshold [28].…”

“…Something similar was also observed by Coelho et al [6], in which consumers related the term "sweet taste" to samples of fermented sausages formulated with and without 2% lactulose as prebiotic, but this relation was not verified when these samples were added from the probiotic L. paracasei; the fermented sausages with the probiotic were positively highlighted with the term "acid taste". In restructured cooked hams, Oliveira et al [4] reported that the sweet taste was perceived in the samples added of 6% and 10% of lactulose, but not samples with 3% lactulose.…”

“…Recently, some researchers suggested the use of lactulose as a functional ingredient in meat products, such as cooked hams [4], dry-cured hams [5] and fermented sausages [6]. Lactulose is a disaccharide consisting of glucose and fructose (4-O-β-D-galactopyranosyl-D-fructose), which is neither metabolized nor absorbed in the small intestine, and thus, it is available for bacteria in the large intestine, where it is metabolized preferentially by bifidobacteria and lactobacilli [7].…”