Effect Of Sorbitol On Proteolysis Characteristics And Quality Of Fermented Sausage

As a typical representative of fermented meat products, fermented sausage has gainedmuch popularity due to its typical flavor and long shelf-life. In order to achieve well storageproperties, traditional processing method of fermented sausage involve a long drying period,which lowered the moisture content and water activity. However, the product has toughtexture and low yield. In order to solve these problems, the water holding capacity of sorbitolin fermented sausage was studied, changes of proteolysis characteristics, flavor and storageproperties of sausages with or without sorbitol were also investigated. The purpose of thisstudy was to explore the role of sorbitol played in fermented sausages and provide theoreticalsupport for the process of fermented meat product.First, the effect of four polyols on Aw of fermented sausages were analyzed, the waterholding capacity of sorbitol during processing of fermented sausage was investigated byLF-NMR, the effects of sorbitol on production period, yield, moisture content, texture andsensory properties were also studied. The results showed the Aw lowering capacity of sorbitolwas stronger than sucrose, xylitol and glucose. The addition of sorbitol can reduce T21, T22,T23, which indicated that the water holding capacity of sausages increased. When4%~8%sorbitol was added, the production period of sausages reduced, the moisture content increasedfrom30.4%to33.9%~35.4%, the production yield increased from73.7%to81.5%~89.6%,and hardness decreased from6051g to3967g~4934g, chewiness decreased from3467g to2238g~2806g, the total acceptability score increased from5.3to6.7~6.8, compared with thecontrol group.Then, the effect of sorbitol on proteolysis characteristics and flavor were investigated.When4%or more sorbitol was added, the proteolysis level of sausages were lower than thecontrol group: NPN content and PI value were remarkably lower than the control group afterfermentation (p<0.05), PI of the control group was18.80while it was only15.44when8%sorbitol was added. When4%or8%sorbitol was added, proteolysis level of myofibrillar andsarcoplasmic protein decreased. As for the water-soluble nitrogen, percentage of peptides>5kDa of groups with sorbitol was higher than the control group, while percentage of peptides<5kDa was lower. However, the addtion of sorbitol did not have negative effect on flavor ofsausages: percentage of peptides <500Da in water-soluble nitrogen of the control group,group with4%sorbitol, group with8%sorbitol increased to61.40%、56.46%、51.68%,respectively, which indicated sorbitol did not have negative effect on taste. The aroma type offermented sausages was unchanged.Finally, the effect of sorbitol on storage properties was studied under two conditions.During the storage period, TBARS value and TVB-N content were lower in sausages withsorbitol than in the control group, while the total acceptability was higher. The aerobic platecount and lactic acid bacteria count decreased during storage in all groups. The storageproperties of products under vacuum and refrigeration were better than those under vacuum atroom temperature.