Effect of Low-Sodium Salt on Quality of Beef Meatballs
FU Li1, ZHANG Xiufeng1, DANG Meizhu1,*, YANG Baojin1, HUANGPU Youyu2
1.College of Food Engineering, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou 450046, China;2.Henan Yisai Beef Co. Ltd., Jiaozuo 454450, China
Abstract：In this paper, the thawing loss, cooking loss, water activity, texture, color, aerobic plate count and sensory quality of frozen beef meatballs added with different combinations of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium lactate and yeast extract as low-sodium salts were determined. The aim was to evaluate the effect of low-sodium salt on the flavor, texture and storability of meatballs. The results showed that the optimum combination was 1.0% NaCl, 0.5% KCl, 0.5% potassium lactate and 2.0% yeast extract, which led to a 50% reduction of NaCl content in meatballs. Additionally, the thawing loss, cooking loss, chewiness, water activity, L* and a* values of meatballs with the low-sodium salt were similar to those observed with the addition of NaCl alone, and the microbiological indices were within the national standard limit. The gelling properties of other combinations were significantly better compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the addition of a certain amount of yeast extract could effectively improve the bad taste caused by potassium.
2017, Vol. 31 
