Pretreatment of Curdlan and Its Effect on the Quality of Low Fat Beef Sausage

In order to study the influence of different pretreatment methods on viscosity and gel strength of curdlan, investigate the effects of pretreated curdlan on water-holding capacity and texture properties of low fat beef sausage, the influence of high speed cutting and alkali-neutralization on viscosity and gel strength of curdlan was studied. Furthermore, in the preparation of the low fat beef sausage, curdlan pretreated by high speed cutting and alkali-neutralization was added at 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5% and 0.7%. The effects were investigated by measuring cooking loss, water-holding capacity, textural properties and sensory score. The results showed that pretreatments of high speed cutting and alkali-neutralization enhanced viscosity and gel strength of curdlan significantly (P<0.05). Moreover, curdlan pretreated by alkali-neutralization showed higher viscosity and gel strength. Pretreatments of high speed cutting and alkali dissolving were optimal within 5 and 15 min respectively. Cooking loss of low fat beef sausage decreased significantly (P<0.05), non-expressible water, water-holding capacity, hardness, chewiness and sensory score of low fat beef sausage increased obviously with the increased addition of curdlan treated by high speed cutting and alkali-neutralization (P<0.05), in comparison to low fat beef sausage with non-treated curdlan powder. Furthermore, low fat beef sausage added curdlan treated by alkali-neutralization performed better in cooking loss, water-holding capacity, hardness, chewiness and sensory score. Therefore, pretreatments of high speed cutting and alkali-neutralization could be used to improve the viscosity, gel strength and application of curdlan effectively. Meanwhile, alkali-neutralization was the better one.