Effects of Myofibrillar Protein-Stabilized Soybean Oil Pre-Emulsions Containing Arabic Gum or Gallic Acid-Grafted Arabic Gum on the Quality Characteristics and Oxidative Stability of Reduced-Animal-Fat Emulsified Sausages

Soybean oil-based pre-emulsions stabilized by myofibrillar protein (MP), Arabic gum (AG), or gallic acid-grafted Arabic gum (GA-AG) were used to partially (50%) or fully (100%) replace pork back fat in Western-style emulsified sausages. The present study investigated the effects of such replacement on the initial quality attributes and lipid oxidation stability of sausages during storage. Compared with sausages formulated with pure pork back fat, pre-emulsion substitution significantly reduced cooking loss and improved textural characteristics, especially hardness and springiness. Incorporating AG into the soybean oil pre-emulsion further enhanced the cooking yield of the products, while GA-AG retained AG’s stabilizing efficacy without compromising sensory acceptability. Sensory evaluation results demonstrated that 50% fat replacement achieved an optimal balance between textural performance and overall sensory preference. During refrigerated storage, the thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values increased in all sausage formulations. In contrast, sausages formulated with the GA-AG-stabilized soybean oil pre-emulsion exhibited the most potent inhibitory effect on lipid oxidation. After 312 h of storage, the TBARS values of the GA-AG groups were merely 32.8% of those of the single MP-treated groups. These findings suggest that the MP/GA-AG-stabilized soybean oil pre-emulsion system effectively improves the processing properties and oxidative stability of low-animal-fat emulsified sausages.