Bean flour as partial pork meat replacer in low-fat burgers

Abstract

Background: Increasing pulses consumption has been associated with some beneficial health effects stimulating new more sustainable product development. Pulse flour incorporation in meat products could offer great nutritional and environmental advantages, but the final product quality characteristics must be analyzed.Objective: To evaluate the effect of the partial replacement of pork meat with bean flour in low-fat burgers with pre-emulsified sunflower oil on the main quality attributes and to find the level that optimizes its characteristics.Methods: Low-fat pork meat burgers with 10 % pre-emulsified sunflower oil were obtained with Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Alubia) bean flour that partially replaced lean pork meat and their main quality factors were analyzed. A bifactorial design was used, testing 2 flour levels (8 - 15 g/100 g) and 3 water/flour ratios (1.2, 1.6, and 1.8 g/g). Burgers were frozen stored (-20 °C) and then cooked with a double contact grill until 71 °C in the center. Process yield, Texture Profile Analysis, and color parameters (L*, a*, b*) were obtained. Respond Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to model the respond behaviors and make a multivariable optimization employing the desirability functional analysis. The texture of a commercial pork burger was the target and maximizing the yield and the flour level.Results: Process yield decreased when the water/flour ratio increased regardless of the flour content in the burger. Hardness was higher for lower replacements, decreasing with water increases, while cohesiveness, chewiness, and springiness followed a similar tendency. Burgers with higher water and flour levels resulted in higher L*. Through the optimization a formulation with 15 g/100 g flour and 1.36 g/g water/flour ratio was proposed and when validated experimental results were similar that predicted parameter´ values. Conclusion: The chosen mathematical procedure adequately predicted the quality attributes for the low-fat pork meat partially replaced with bean flour.