| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 707.21 KB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Introduction: Salt has been used as a food additive and preservative in meat products for many centuries. As excessive sodium intake can lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, primary liver cancer, and atrial fibrillation, low-salt reformulations of traditional meat products have been developed. Nevertheless, while salt reduction may address the issue of excessive sodium intake, the effects of using reduced amounts of salt must be carefully considered and raise questions regarding the microbiological stability and shelf-life of the products. Purpose: This study aimed to assess the impact of reducing the salt content in the formulation of sliced chourição on the growth of Total Viable Counts (TVC) and Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) during the shelf-life of the product. Discussion: An increase in the number of TVC (Figure 1) and LAB (Figure 2) was observed over the 60 days of storage at the two temperatures tested, although this increase was more pronounced at 10 °C (abuse temperature). Regarding TVC (Figure 1), an increase in the bacterial levels was observed in the salt-reduced prototypes compared to the standard samples, particularly in samples stored at 10 °C (4 and 6-log cycle increase for the traditional formulation (chourição standard), and 6 and 7-log cycle increase for salt-reduced prototypes, at 4 °C and 10 °C, respectively. Regarding LAB (Figure 2), an increase of 4 and 5-log cycles was observed at 4 °C and 10 °C, respectively, for the traditional chourição, while an increase of 5-log cycles was observed at both temperatures for the salt-reduced salt formulation. Conclusions: Salt plays a critical role in the preservation of meat products. Therefore, product reformulation that involves salt reduction must ensure the same degree of economic and technological feasibility, and, most importantly, maintain the microbiological quality of the final product. New reduced-salt formulations must be further studied, such as physico-chemical characteristics, sensory analysis and challenge tests with target foodborne pathogens, and new hurdles should be introduced or improved in chourição production to achieve the same microbiological stability and shelf-life.