Quality characteristics of chicken sausages prepared with addition of beetroot powder stored at refrigerated temperature

Singh, C., Umaraw, P., Verma, A.K., Singh, V.P. and Vihan, V. 2024. Quality characteristics of chicken sausages prepared with addition of beetroot powder stored at refrigerated temperature. Indian Journal of Poultry Science, 59(3): 321–328 The present study explored preservative potential of beetroot powder (BP) in chicken sausages as natural preservative. Beetroot powder was added at three different levels i.e. T1 (1.5% of BP w/w of meat emulsion), T2 (3.0% of BP w/w of meat emulsion), T3 (4.5% of BP w/w of meat emulsion) in the preparation of chicken sausage and was compared with control (C without BP) chicken sausage which were aerobically packaged. The samples were examined for physico-chemical parameter (pH, cooking yield, emulsion stability), proximate composition, Total phenolic content and 2,2-diphenyl-1 -picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. Storage stability of these chicken sausages were also evaluated on the basis of pH, oxidative stability (peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances), microbiological analysis (total plate count, psychrophilic counts, coliforms and yeast and mould count) and sensory evaluation for 12 days at refrigeration storage. The results indicated that incorporation of BP significantly improved the cooking yield, emulsion stability, ash content, fibre, DPPH radical scavenging activity and total plate count. During storage restricted fat oxidation, microbial proliferation and better maintained sensorial characteristics were observed in treatments. Therefore, outcomes of the study suggested that beetroot could be used as natural preservative for extension of shelf-life of chicken sausages.