Characterization of vegetable fiber and its use in chicken burger formulation

Abstract

Vegetable fibers have been used lately as ingredients in popular meat products in order to increase its nutritional value. The objective of this study was the physical-chemical characterization of six vegetable fibers in order to apply them in chicken burger formulations as animal fat substitutes. The studied fibers showed moisture content below 14 %, low content of fat, protein and ash, and high levels of carbohydrates. The oat, wheat and bamboo fibers showed the highest content of total dietary fiber. All fibers presented good results of technological characterization, but bamboo, pea and wheat fibers showed the best hygroscopic property results, good emulsifying stability, and color compatible for application in meat products. The use of vegetable fibers in chicken burgers resulted in lower or equal hardness values when the experiments were compared to the control sample. Most samples showed elasticity, adhesiveness, cohesiveness and chewiness values significantly equal to the control sample. The sensory analysis results indicated that all samples had good acceptability. The use of vegetable fibers in chicken burgers proved to be a promising alternative for food manufacturers to combine products deemed unhealthy with functional ingredients that are more appealing for consumers. Graphical Abstract

Effect of Microalgae Incorporation on Quality Characteristics and Functional and Antioxidant Capacities of Ready-to-Eat Fish Burgers Made from Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

“…The highest values of swelling capacity were obtained by Isochrysis (3.59 mL/g DW) and Picochlorum (3.54 mL/g DW) burgers and by Chlorella burgers (3.52 mL/g DW) (p < 0.001) (Table 4). Furthermore, the difference between the functional capacities of the three microalgae could be explained by the differences in their proportion, composition and characteristics of dietary fibers [19]. These results are in accordance with previous reports [28,33].…”

“…This due to the darker colors obtained from microalgae ( Table 5). Accordingly, this could presumably be attributed to the differences in composition resulting from different amounts of pigments (carotenoids, chlorophylls, and phycocyanin) and water, which is a determining element in the final color product [19]. This finding indicates that the tested natural colorants in this study have no tendency to lighten the burger's color during the storage period.…”

“…These OHC values could be of a particular interest, especially for the binding of fat during industrial food processing and storage. This might be attributed to the high water and oil binding capacities of the three microalgae fibers [19,32]. In addition, the control burgers showed the lowest values of swelling capacity (3.14 mL/g).…”

“…Indeed, depending on the amount and type of fibers, varying results were reported regarding the hardness of food products. Thus, both hardening and softening have been observed when fibers were added to various cooked food products [19,29]. In addition, chewiness reflected results pertaining to hardness, and these results were not surprising since chewiness is a secondary parameter that depends on hardness [30].…”

“…The L* value indicates lightness (0 = darkness, 100 = lightness), the a* value indicates redness (+60 = red, −60 = green), and the b* value indicates yellowness (+60 = yellow, − 60 = blue) [19]. Hue (H*) and chroma (C*) were calculated as follows: H* = arctg (b*/a*) and C* = (a* 2 + b* 2 ) 1/2 .…”