Evaluation of Chemical Analyses of Experimentally Prepared Fermented and Heat-Treated Sausages

Abstract

Sausages are very open to adulteration because of their preparation procedures. The purpose of this study was to examine the chemical composition of fermented and heat-treated sausages prepared experimentally with the addition of tissues and organs that are likely to be used in adulterated meat products and to determine whether the chemical analyses provided adequate information about sausage composition. The experimental fermented or heat-treated sausages were prepared with the addition of tissues and organs (seven tissue/organ combinations were studied; head meat-lung, tongue-liver, trachea-rumen, spleen-intestine, mammary gland-brain, heart-testis and kidney-oesophagus) that are likely to be used to adulterate sausage meat products. Appropriate control sausages not containing any organ additions were prepared according to the Turkish Food Codex. The most remarkable result is that contents of moisture, fat, ash and total protein are not sufficient criteria to determine the quality of the sausages. However, hydroxyproline content is an important criterion for the detection of collagen tissue, and this chemical analysis must be supplemented by histological analysis in future studies.