Effect of wheat fibre on physico-chemical and sensory properties as well as on storage stability of low fat mutton nuggets

Abstract

In this study wheat fibres (WF) were added three levels (2.5,5 and 7.5%) to mutton nuggets substituting sunflower oil(SF) and physical, chemical sensory traits and storage stability at refrigerated temperature were evaluated. High SF and low fibre mutton nuggets had the lowest cooking yield (86.1%) and high WF added mutton nuggets had the highest cooking yield (96.7%) .Moisture and fat retention % was significantly affected by both SF and WF level. Mutton nuggets formulated with different levels of WF were significantly higher in moisture content than that of control. It was also found that the protein contents of mutton nuggets significantly decreased as the amount of WF was added. Percentage reduction in calorie content of mutton with WF ranged from 25.29 to 28.74%. The instrumental lightness (L*) value decresead with increasing amount of WF in the formulation. WF level affected the flavour, juiciness and tenderness score of mutton nuggets. As SF level decreased and WF level increased, the tenderness of mutton nuggets received lower ratings. There was an increase in TBA values of both control and WF added mutton nuggets after 14 days of refrigerated storage. The APC increased in both the control and WF added nuggets during storage. However, on 14th day, more counts were noted in WF added mutton nuggets than the control. Psychrotrophs were not detected until 7 days of refrigerated storage. It can be concluded from the study that WF improved the yield and could be an excellent replacement for fat in mutton nuggets maintaining acceptable and desirable sensory properties. Good quality of nuggets can be produced up to 5% level of wheat fibre and safely stored up to 14 days of refrigerated storage without deteriorating the quality. The presence of functional fibre allows their application in meat processing to obtain healthy products.