Impact of Bacterial Nanocellulose on the Rheological and Textural Characteristics of Low-Lipid Meat Emulsions

Abstract

Replacement of animal fat by vegetable or marine oils have been proposed to improve the fatty acid profile of meat emulsions. However, this replacement affects physicochemical and textural characteristics of these products, and the extent of the changes depends on the polysaccharides and non-meat proteins included in the formulation. In this chapter a novel application of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) to low-fat meat emulsions formulated with high-oleic sunflower oil is discussed, analyzing the effect of BNC on proximate composition, process yield, color, texture, and rheological characteristics. Rheological temperature sweep curves showed a typical behavior of thermal gelation of meat systems where the main component corresponds to myosin denaturation. Formulations containing BNC showed higher elastic moduli, reflecting the formation of an important three-dimensional network with more solid-like characteristics than the BNC-free control with oil. Addition of BNC produced systems with adequate quality and physicochemical characteristics, similar to traditional sausages formulated with animal fat.