Reformulation of Bologna Sausage by Total Pork Backfat Replacement with an Emulsion Gel Based on Olive, Walnut, and Chia Oils, and Stabilized with Chitosan

Nicoleta Cîrstea Lazăr; Violeta Nour; Alexandru Radu Corbu; Camelia Muntean; Georgiana Gabriela Codină

doi:10.3390/foods12183455

Reformulation of Bologna Sausage by Total Pork Backfat Replacement with an Emulsion Gel Based on Olive, Walnut, and Chia Oils, and Stabilized with Chitosan

Foods. 2023 Sep 16;12(18):3455. doi: 10.3390/foods12183455.

Authors

Nicoleta Cîrstea Lazăr^{1

2}, Violeta Nour², Alexandru Radu Corbu², Camelia Muntean², Georgiana Gabriela Codină³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Food Science and Engineering, Dunărea de Jos University of Galati, Domnească Street 111, 800201 Galati, Romania.
² Department of Horticulture and Food Science, University of Craiova, A.I. Cuza Street 13, 200585 Craiova, Romania.
³ Faculty of Food Engineering, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania.

Abstract

Bologna sausage, also called "la grassa", is a very popular meat product despite its high fat content and lipidic profile raising serious negative health concerns. An emulsion gel containing olive, walnut, and chia oils, stabilized with soy protein isolate, transglutaminase, and chitosan, was used as total pork backfat replacer in Bologna sausage. The nutritional, textural, and technological properties were assessed and sensory analyses were conducted. Color, pH, and lipid oxidation were monitored during 18 days of cold storage (4 °C). A normal fat Bologna sausage was used as a control reference. A decrease in the n-6/n-3 ratio from 16.85 to 1.86 (by 9 times) was achieved in the reformulated product as compared with the control, while the PUFA/SFA ratio increased from 0.57 to 1.61. Color measurements indicated that the lightness and yellowness increased while redness slightly decreased in the reformulated product. The total substitution of pork backfat in Bologna sausage by the emulsion gel developed in the present study was realized without significantly affecting the technological properties, the oxidative stability and the overall acceptance by the consumers.

Keywords: Bologna sausage; chitosan; emulsion gels; fatty acid composition; reformulation; technological properties; texture.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization within Program 1—Development of national research and development system, Subprogram 1.2—Institutional Performance—RDI excellence funding projects, under contract no. 10PFE/2021.