Researchers highlight potential added fibres for low-fat meat products

The study – published in Journal of Food Science​ – assessed how the addition of different dietary fibres affected the physical and chemical properties of processed meats. Led by Ramón Cava from the University of Extremadura, Spain, the research team added three dietary fibres – tomato fibre, beetroot fibre, and inulin – to produce a fibre-enriched, low-fat, chopped chicken product.

Cava and his team reported that the different fibres produced fibre-enriched products with “very distinct characteristics in terms of technological properties, colour, texture, and antioxidant status.”​
They revealed that tomato and beetroot fibres provided increases in antioxidant status that could offer benefits in terms of shelf life, however the fibres were also found to the alter the  colour of the chicken products.

“Contrarily, inulin incorporation modified the instrumental texture properties and did not modify the colour and did not exhibit any antioxidant activity,”​ they said.

Cava and his team concluded that although the addition of tomato fibre increased the redness of the meat products, “the use of this fibre was more suitable as it reduced the extent of lipid oxidation processes.”​

Fat reduction & shelf life extension​

“Nowadays, the reduction of fat and the increase of fibre content in meat products is one of the main goals of meat industry,”​ noted the researchers – adding that ‘numerous’ sources of fibre could potentially be added to meat products.

“However, before that it is necessary to study their technological effect on raw and cooked meat products in order to evaluate their suitability for meat products manufacture,”​ they said.

“In addition, some of them could have beneficial effect on meat products conservation that could also increase their shelf life.”​

Study details​

The research team used the three dietary fibres (tomato fibre, beetroot fibre, and inulin) at 3 levels of addition (1%, 2%, and 3%) to assess the changes to the production of chopped, cooked chicken products. They compared the added fibres with a control product without fibre added.

The addition of the fibre to chicken meat products was found to reduce the pH of chicken batters in proportional to the level of fibre addition, whilst the fibre incorporation also increased water-holding capacity – but only the addition of tomato fibre reduced cook losses, said the researchers.

“The colour of batters and cooked products was significantly modified by the type and level of fibre added,”​ they revealed, adding that such changes were more noticeable when tomato fibre was added.

However, the addition of tomato and beetroot fibre to chicken meat also products reduced lipid oxidation processes.

“These changes were dependent on the level of fibre added,”​ said Cava and his team, who added that the reduction of lipid oxidation was more marked in tomato fibre enriched meat products than in products with the other types of fibres.

Source: Journal of Food Science​
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2011.02597.x​
“Assessment of Different Dietary Fibers (Tomato Fiber, Beet Root Fiber, and Inulin) for the Manufacture of Chopped Cooked Chicken Products”​
Authors: R. Cava, L. Ladero, V. Cantero, M.R. Ramírez