Consumer perception of snack sausages enriched with umami-tasting meat protein hydrolysates

Umami Characteristics and Taste Improvement Mechanism of Meat

Taste is one of the five senses that detect vital information about what we are eating. Comprehending taste is crucial for enhancing the flavor of foodstuffs and high-protein foods like meat. Umami has global recognition as the fifth elementary taste, alongside sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and bitterness. Umami compounds are known to enhance the sensation of recognized flavors such as salty, sweet, bitter, and others. This could end up in greater food consumption by consumption by consumers. With the rising global population, meat consumption is rising and is projected to double by 2025. It is crucial to comprehend the umami mechanism of meat and meat products, identify novel compounds, and employ laboratory methodologies to gather varied information. This knowledge will aid in the development of new consumer products. Although very limited information is available on umami taste and compounds in meat through research data. This article discusses recent advancements in umami compounds in other foodstuff as well as meat to aid in designing future research and meat product development. Moreover, another objective of this review is to learn present techniques in foodstuffs to enhance umami taste and utilize that knowledge in meat products.

Chemical Safety and Quality Attributes of Dried Sausage Snacks Stored in Modified Atmosphere

A sausage snack was produced by air blast drying of cottage sausage, and its safety and quality were investigated during 10-week storage period in a modified atmosphere (20% CO₂/80% N₂) at 4 ± 1°C and 20 ± 1°C. The results of a sensory and instrumental evaluation of colour and texture showed that significantly greater changes in these parameters were caused by drying the sausage rather than during subsequent storage of the produced snacks. Although total viable count increased and reached a maximum value of 6.5 log CFU g^-1 after 70 days of storage at 20 ± 1°C, Enterobacteriaceae were not detected. The histamine level was approx. 18 mg kg^-1, while the average content of the other biogenic amines after 70 days of storage ranged from 4.4 mg kg^-1 (cadaverine) to 32.1 mg kg^-1 (tyramine). The biogenic amine index was small and varied from 34.5 mg kg^-1 (in the sausage before drying) to 73.4 mg kg^-1 (at the end of the snack storage at 20 ± 1°C). The lipid hydrolysis and oxidation proceeded slowly and did not pose a threat to the product quality. The combination of drying and modified atmosphere packaging maintains good quality and safety of sausage snack during 70 days at refrigerated storage and/or 4 weeks at room temperature.

The Effects of Nutrition and Health Claim Information on Consumers’ Sensory Preferences and Willingness to Pay

As marketing tools, nutrition claims (NCs) and health claims (HCs) can be used to convey the nutritional properties and health benefits of food to consumers, but their respective effects on consumers’ perceptions of healthier meat products are inconsistent in the literature. Using a physical prototype of omega-3-enriched sausages as a research interest, this paper explores how HCs and NCs differently influence consumers’ sensory preferences and willingness to pay (WTP). Sensory tests were carried out among 330 participants, followed by a choice-based conjoint (CBC) experiment to measure consumers’ WTP. Results indicate that, in comparison with the uninformed condition, labeling an omega-3 nutrition claim increased consumers’ sensory liking for omega-3-enriched sausages in the attributes of appearance and texture. Moreover, consumers were willing to pay more for healthier sausages, but labeling HCs did not significantly improve participants’ WTP for omega-3-enriched sausages more than NCs. Hence, HCs did not significantly outperform NCs, when it comes to positively influencing consumers’ sensory liking and paying intentions for omega-3-enriched sausages. The findings of this study have implications for the meat industry in developing healthier sausage formulations with greater likelihood of success in the market.

Understanding the main factors that influence consumer quality perception and attitude towards meat and processed meat products

Meat and meat products consumer behaviour is becoming less predictable. The objective of this review was to determine the attributes associated with the consumer's perception of quality and identify factors influencing the perception and consequent attitude. In conclusion, the findings showed that factors impacting nutritional quality, chemical and biological hazards, animal welfare, beliefs, and fraud could affect consumers' perception of how safe meat products are. Consumers positively perceive sensory attributes and recognize meat's nutritional value, still concerned with fat. Animal welfare and environmental impact have become significant drivers of consumer perception. The presence of chemical additives is a severe concern. Information received by consumers through media strongly influences perception and behaviour. The negative stigmatization of meat and meat products and beliefs often not scientifically-based shapes consumer perception. Their sensory impact and price frame the acceptance of animal production or processing modifications.

Sensory Profiling and Liking of Salami and Pancetta from Immunocastrated, Surgically Castrated and Entire Male Pigs

Simple Summary

Alternatives to surgical castration are an important issue in pig production due to societal concerns regarding animal welfare. Castration of piglets is a common practice to avoid boar taint, an unpleasant taste (urine/fecal like) of meat from uncastrated male pigs. In view of abandoning surgical castration and introduction of new alternatives, such as raising entire male pigs and applying immunocastration, several new issues are emerging. These include boar taint occurrence in case of entire male pigs and a deteriorated raw material (meat, fat) quality, which can affect consumer perception. Therefore, more information is needed about the consumer acceptance of products from the different alternatives. In the present study, two types of dry-cured meat products were assessed to give some insights into the sensory characteristic and consumers’ liking of the products coming from immunocastrated, entire male and surgically castrated animals.

Abstract

Consumer studies on acceptability of pork from immunocastrates (IC) and entire males (EM) are of primary importance, if these alternatives are to replace surgical castration (SC) of piglets. Data on the sensory traits and consumers acceptance of IC and EM meat products are still limited. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to (1) describe the sensory profile by quantitative descriptive analysis and (2) test the perception and consumer liking of salami (dry-fermented sausage) and pancetta (dry-cured belly) from EM, IC and SC animals. The consumer tests included the scaling method and check-all-that-apply. Profiling showed that EM products were scored lower in the overall sensory quality compared to IC or SC. EM products differed mainly from IC and SC in the intensity of the manure, sweat odor and flavor, persistent impression and texture (hardness, gumminess and easy to fragment). Salami samples did not differ in liking. In pancetta, the differences were significant for odor liking and visual quality (expected liking). Consumers did not perceive EM products as inferior in terms of liking, while sensory profiling indicated differences for boar taint presence and texture. Using meat originating from IC did not result in any differences in consumers acceptance as compared to products from SC.

Sensory drivers of perceived situational appropriateness in unbranded foods and beverages: Towards a deeper understanding

Measures of product performance that effectively predict food and beverage choices are highly sought after. A simple method to add value to hedonic data is that of item-by-use (IBU) appropriateness, where consumers are presented with a list of possible consumption situations and asked to indicate how well a product fits them. A persistent misconception surrounding this approach is that it is relevant for discriminating between different products, but not between variants within the same product category, which is often the focus of sensory and consumer studies. To provide a deeper understanding of the sensory underpinnings of appropriateness, the present work presents experimental evidence from six consumer studies (116-210 consumers per study) employing unbranded product variants from the same category. Products were successfully discriminated based on IBU appropriateness in all studies, even when sensory variation was unidimensional and controlled (such as a basic lemonade recipe varying in sugar content). While product differentiation based on the sensory profiles was greater than differentiation based on appropriateness, the results clearly show that sensory variation, in and of itself, is sufficient to elicit differences in perceived appropriateness. As expected, the degree of inter-product differences in appropriateness was approximately linearly related to the degree of differences in sensory profiles. Finally, while some sensory properties independently affected perceived appropriateness, the magnitude (and in some cases the direction) of the effects often depended on the level of product liking.

Potential role of natural bioactive peptides for development of cosmeceutical skin products

In recent years, consumers' demand for cosmeceutical products with protective and therapeutic functions derived from natural sources have caused this industry to search for alternative active ingredients. Bioactive peptides have a wide spectrum of bioactivities, which make them ideal candidates for development of these cosmeceutical products. In vitro studies have demonstrated that bioactive peptides (obtained as extracts, hydrolysates, and/or individual peptides) exhibit biological properties including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activities, in addition to their properties of inhibiting aging-related enzymes such as elastase, collagenase, tyrosinase and hyaluronidase. Some studies report multifunctional bioactive peptides that can simultaneously affect, beneficially, multiple physiological pathways in the skin. Moreover, in vivo studies have revealed that topical application or consumption of bioactive peptides possess remarkable skin protection. These properties suggest that bioactive peptides may contribute in the improvement of skin health by providing specific physiological functions, even though the mechanisms underlying the protective effect have not been completely elucidated. This review provides an overview of in vitro, in silico and in vivo properties of bioactive peptides with potential use as functional ingredients in the cosmeceutical field. It also describes the possible mechanisms involved as well as opportunities and challenges associated with their application.