Fortification of conventional Buffalo meat sausage with ash gourd peel enhances shelf life, nutritional, functional and microstructural characteristics
Abdul Haque, Saghir Ahmad, Mohd Adnan, Mohammad Idreesh Khan, Syed Amir Ashraf, Z. R. Azaz Ahmad Azad
Abstract
In recent years, food fortification has been seen as one of the important approach to address nutrients deficiency and also considered as a source of sustainable form of intervention to reach wider population. Therefore the aim of our study was to develop Buffalo meat sausage by incorporating dehydrated ash gourd peel powder (DAGPP). Four sausage formulations were prepared with three levels of DAGPP inclusion (4%, 8%, and 12%) along with a control sample. DAGPP incorporated sausages were compared with the control sample in terms of scanning electron micrograph (SEM), crude fiber content, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, sensory and textural attributes. The storage studies (at 0 °C) were carried out for analysis of physicochemical properties (moisture content, protein content, ash content, pH and TBA value), color parameters (a*, b* and L* values) and microbiological characteristics. Our results showed that, crude fiber content and mineral content increased from 0.74% to 6.33% and 1.94% to 2.74% respectively on the first day of study. TBA value decreased from 0.207 to 0.133 (mg of malonaldhyde/ kg sample) on 14th day of study. Microbiological analysis revealed that, the total plate count, yeast and mold count reduced from 2.87 to 2.12 log cfu/g and 1.93 to 1.38 log cfu/g respectively, although no coliform was detected. The highest sensory score was achieved in sample containing 12% DAGPP ie; 7–9. Based upon our findings we found that, the fortified meat sausages had better microstructure and sensory score, increased nutritional value, crude fiber, shelf life as well as high antioxidant activity. Therefore, DAGPP fortified meat sausage can be considered as one of the important source for proteins, minerals for under-nutrition population. However, profiling of the fortified food would be warranted to investigate micronutrients along with other functional characteristics.