Partial and total replacement of meat by plant-based proteins in chicken sausage: evaluation of mechanical, physico-chemical and sensory characteristics.

The processed meats are classified in the first
category of carcinogenic compounds due to its numerous
health issues. For this reason, there is a growing interest to
utilize healthy ingredients for formulation of meat-based
products. The objective of this study was to replace completely and partially meat by plant proteins in sausage
formulation and compare the characteristics of these novel
formulae with full meat sample. The results showed that
the plant proteins minimized the cooking loss and shrinkage and improved emulsion stability by creating a strong
structural network in cooked emulsion. In contrast, the full
meat samples had better strength/elasticity in terms of
folding score (4.67 out of 5) and gel strength
(2553.68 g mm) when compared to meat-reduced and
meat-free samples. The sensory assessment showed that
replacement of chicken meat by plant proteins was highly
acceptable in terms of texture, odor, color and overall
acceptance. Overall, it is concluded that plant proteins can
be regarded as promising ingredients to replace 80–100%
meat in sausage.