Quality properties of northern Thai beef sausage (sai-ua-nuea) with different additional levels of selected herbs

Abstract

Different levels of selected herbs (0-20% w/w) were affected northern Thai beef sausage (sai-ua-nuea) quality in terms of color, water activity (aw), cooking loss, texture, proximate composition, and sensory attributes. The L*and a*values were diminished for sai-ua-nuea with higher herb content, while the b*value unaffected. The aw value of sai-ua-nuea without selected herbs was 0.93; it raised to 0.96 when adding selected herbs at a ratio of 10-20% of the aw value. The cooking loss of the samples decreased gradually with the addition of selected herbs. In cooked sai-ua-nuea, selected samples with incorporated herbs showed significantly lower results in all textural parameters (firmness, hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness) than the control. Proximate analysis results showed that the addition of selected herbs on sai-ua-nuea samples improved their nutritional values. It was found that an increase of selected herbs leads to a higher fiber content and lower fat content in sai-ua-nuea. Regarding sensory characteristics, the addition of selected herbs did not significantly affect any of the sensory scores tested in terms of odor, texture, taste, and juiciness attributes. However, the increased levels of selected herbs decreased the good appearance level more than 10% in terms of color and overall linking scores. Therefore, these results suggested that a suitable addition of selected herbs would be 10% for the development of a healthier sai-ua-nuea product.