BACKGROUND: The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect on chemical composition, physico-chemical properties, cooking characteristics, fatty acid profile, lipid oxidation, and sensory acceptability of an oil-in-water emulsion gel that was prepared with chestnut flour, chia oil, gellan gum, and water (CEG), used as a fat replacer in pork burgers. The original mixture was used as a control sample (CS). The other samples were formulated partially replacing pork backfat with 5% of CEG (CEG5%) and 10% of CEG (CEG10%).RESULTS: Proximate analysis of samples showed several differences between samples. The CEG addition was found to be effective for improving the cooking yield while diameter reduction and thickness increase were positively affected. As regards lipid oxidation, in cooked burger, the 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values for CS, CEG5% and CEG10% were 0.46, 0.57, and 0.59 mg malonaldehyde/kg sample, respectively. The linolenic and linolenic acid content of pork burger increased as CEG addition increased. Sensory properties for CS and CEG5% were similar whereas CEG10% showed the highest sensory scores.CONCLUSIONS: A combination of chestnut flour and chia oil could be used as a novel ingredient to develop pork burgers with a better nutritional profile without diminishing their sensory and physico-chemical properties.

Chia and quinoa have gained popularity among consumers worldwide due to the wide variety of nutrients but also to the bioactive compounds that they contain. Lately, their processing has generated different coproducts (non-commercial grains, flour, partially deoiled flour, rich-fiber fraction, and oil, among others), which could be reincorporated to the food chain with important technological properties, antioxidant activity included. Both sets of ingredients have been revealed a great technological potential for meat product development and innovation, taking into account that oxidation is one of the main reactions responsible for their deterioration and shelf life reduction. This review focuses on the antioxidant compounds of chia and quinoa coproducts and on the strategies used to add them to meat products highlighting their effect on the lipid oxidation control. Apart from the different ways in which quinoa and chia can be incorporated into meat products and their antioxidant properties, innovative approaches for increasing this antioxidant effect and counteracting any negative alterations they may cause will be discussed.

The incorporation of a new ingredient into foods could not only affect the intrinsic properties of the product but also its shelf life. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the black quinoa (both as whole seeds and as the fibre-rich fraction obtained as coproduct from its wet-milling process) on the shelf life of Bologna-type sausages during cold storage. Three treatments of Bologna-type sausages were produced: control, sausages with black quinoa seeds (2.5%), and sausages with their fibre-rich fraction (2.5%). The effect of the black quinoa added on the physicochemical properties (pH and colour), lipid oxidation, residual nitrite level, and microbiological quality of Bolognas during 21 days of cold storage was evaluated. Although the addition of quinoa products in Bologna-type sausages modified some colour parameters (day 0), these differences were masked through the storage period. Sausages with quinoa products added showing lipid oxidation values lower than the control for all the days studied. Sausages with quinoa products added showed higher residual nitrite levels than control at all measurement times during the storage period. The addition of black quinoa did not affect microbial stability during storage. Black quinoa products can be considered promising ingredients to be used as antioxidants and natural nitrate sources in Bologna-type sausages without affecting their microbial safety during storage. Figure 2. Microorganism, (a) mesophilic aerobic bacteria; (b) lactic acid bacteria, counts (log colony forming units (CFU)/g) of Bologna-type sausages (control, sausage with black quinoa seeds (BQS), and sausage with its fibre-rich fraction (RFBQS)) during cold storage.

Meat products reformulation is very complicated since the “charcuterie” is more than a technology. The addition of new ingredients is not an easy task; therefore, preliminary assays are carried out to determine their feasibility. Oleogels are “new ingredients” used to mimic fats and/or modify the fatty acids profile. To evaluate the chia oleogel (COG) feasibility in Frankfurt-type cooked sausages (FTCS) processing, several physical and physicochemical parameters, CIELAB color space, 2-Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), moisture, fat, pH, water activity (Aw), and residual nitrite level (RNL), were determined. In a traditional FTCS formula, the COG was used to replace pork back fat (substitution level 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%). In FTCS, RNL were not detected in COG samples. The 75% substitution with COG increased moisture content. COG addition increased pH. For Aw, COG addition decreased their values in FTCS. The 50% and 75% of COG substitution increased TBA values. FTCS fat content for COG-added samples showed values between 22.35 and 23.85 (g fat/100 g). Thus, the use of chia oleogels is feasible in an industrial process and can be a good source to reduce nitrite residual level.

Chia mucilage is a new ingredient with a lot of new applications and so its extraction from seeds generates a great amount of coproducts (CSWM), whose composition is suitable for the meat industry. In this work, the effect of the addition of CSWM and whole chia seeds (WCS) in a dry-cured sausage (DCS) upon its physicochemical properties has been evaluated (four processing days). Several concentrations of WCS and CSWM (0, 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5%) were added. pH, water activity (Aw), residual nitrite level (RNL), the 2-Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay and moisture content were determined. WCS and CSWM addition in DCS decreased the pH values in all the samples. For RNL, the values decreased along time without differences between samples. Although all the samples reached at day 4 a weight loss of 30% (industrial criteria for sausages commercialization), any of them reached Aw values to be considered as intermediate moisture foods (≤0.900). Samples with WCS showed lower TBA values than control. CSWM can be used as an ingredient for DCS showing the same effect upon its physicochemical properties than WCS and so it could be an interesting way to valorize this coproduct.