Meat has played a crucial role in human evolution and is an important component of a healthy and well-balanced diet on account of its nutritional properties, its high biological value as a source of protein, and the vitamins and minerals it supplies. We studied the effects of animal fat reduction and substitution by hydrogenated vegetal fat, sodium alginate and guar gum. Fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation, color and instrumental texture as well as the sensorial difference between low, substituted-fat and the traditional formulations for mortadella-type products were analyzed. Both substitution and reduction of animal fat decreased the saturated fatty acids percentage from 40% down to 31%. A texture profile analysis showed differences between the formulations. Furthermore, lipid oxidation values were not significant for treatments as regards the type and quantity of fat used while the use of sodium alginate and guar gum reduced the amounts of liquid released after cooking. Animal fat substitution does cause, however, a difference in overall sensorial perception compared with non-substituted products. The results confirm the viability of substituting vegetal fat for animal fat.Keywords: lipid profile, lipid oxidation, fat-replacers, fat vegetal, texture Escrich et al., 2007). However, the incorporation of these vegetal fats may be associated with a reduction in quality due mainly to a significant oxidative instability. The oxidation of unsaturated lipid fractions along with oxygen presence during meat grinding and the adding salt in processing could have a negative impact on the quality of these products (Álvarez et al., 2011).Hydrocolloids influence many of the functional properties of processed meat products (Chattong et al., 2007). They are commonly used in comminuted products as emulsifiers and "texture modifiers" (Fonkwe et al., 2003). The addition of hydrocolloid materials may structurally interfere with the cross-linking required for protein gel network formation (Pérez-Mateos et al., 2001).In this context, this study aimed to study the influence of animal fat substitution by vegetal fat on mortadella-type products formulated with alginate, guar gum in terms of fatty acid composition, sensory characteristics and oxidative stability of lipids. The effectiveness of the quantification of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBA-RS) using conventional (spectrophotometric) and HPLC methods was also evaluated.
Materials and Methods
MaterialsThe commercial vegetal fat, alginate, guar gum, condiments and other additives were donated by local companies (São Paulo, Brazil). The beef meat was acquired from a local slaughterhouse (São Paulo, Brazil) and the animal fat (pork back fat, pork fat trim) and pork meat were donated by a local slaughterhouse