Effect of Salt Changes on the Sensory Characteristics of Pork Sausages in Two Ripening Times

2. Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the sensory characteristics of meat sausages with 4 different salt formulations (Form1: 2% NaCl, Form3: 1.5% NaCl + 0.5% KCl, Form4: 1.5% + 0.5% NaCl, Form 5: 0.5% Sub 4 salt + 1.5% NaCl) and 2 ripening times (7 and 14 days). Attributes of appearance, odor, texture and flavor were evaluated by a qualified taste panel. The data were submitted to Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA) and Product Characterization (PC). The GPA results highlight some characteristics in the different formulations of meat sausages. However, only the firmness felt by the thumbs presented a discriminatory power between sausages with less time of maturation. On the other hand, the external color was the only attribute with significant discriminatory capacity in the sausages with longer maturation time. The results indicate that panelists do not detect very significant differences in sensory characteristics when changing salt levels in meat sausage formulations which may be important in the production of healthier products.