Effects of soybean protein, potato starch and pig lard on the properties of frankfurters formulated from mechanically separated chicken meat surimi-like material

Mechanically separated chicken meat has become a common ingredient of comminuted sausage products, as 'frankfurters', mainly due to its low price. The present work aimed to develop a frankfurter from mechanically separated chicken meat surimi-like material, and evaluated the chemical, rheological, microbiological and sensorial properties of this product. The response surface methodology was utilized to investigate the effects of the soybean protein, potato starch and pig lard on the texture of the obtained frankfurters. For this purpose, five levels of each factor were evaluated: soybean protein varied from 0% to 6%, potato starch from 0% to 10% and pig lard from 2% to 12%. The regression analysis of the model showed that the soybean protein exerted a linear positive effect and a quadratic negative effect in the compression force of the product (p < 0.05), and that the variable which more influenced the shear force was the potato starch, presenting linear and quadratic effects (p < 0.05). The highest composite design averages obtained were 202.2 g for breaking force, 7.9 cm for deformation, 10.1 N for shear force, and 90.9 N.s for work of shearing. The obtained models presented high determination coefficients, explaining 97.31%, 97.83%, 97.49%, and 95.39% of the breaking force, deformation, shear force and work of shearing variabilities, respectively. The microbiological analysis demonstrated that the achieved results were below the limits fixed by the FDA. The mechanically separated chicken meat surimi-like material frankfurter presented 72.2% of acceptability and 59.3% of the examiners found the color of the product slightly lighter than the ideal. Finally, the frankfurter-type sausages, without pork fat, produced and characterized here have presented promising characteristics for commercial applications.