Effects of Food Proteins on Sensory and Physico-Chemical Properties of Emulsified Pork Meatballs

Emulsified pork meatballs (Kung-Yuan or meatballs) are common emulsified meat products in Chinese cultures and are widely popular among Taiwanese and Chinese consumers. In recent years, the concept of clean labels has become prominent, and consumers have started to demand products without artificial additives. In this study, we investigated the effects of food proteins-soy protein, sodium caseinate, whey protein, egg albumen powder, and skim milk powder on the texture and sensory acceptability of phosphate-free meatballs. The results were compared with the texture and sensory acceptability of meatballs with phosphate. Texture analyses revealed that adding different food proteins to phosphate-free meatballs increased their hardness. Among them, meatballs with egg albumen powder were the hardest, followed by those with sodium caseinate and those with whey protein. Meatballs with phosphate and phosphate-free meatballs without any protein additive were less chewy than meatballs with any of the five protein additives, adding the egg albumen powder, sodium caseinate, and whey protein, however, could increase the meatballs’ chewiness. Quality analyses showed that all groups of meatballs were had pH values between 6.36 and 6.96 and had water compositions between 49.81% and 56.79%. Sensory evaluation revealed that soy protein had negative effects on sensory acceptance, whereas whey protein scored the highest in overall sensory evaluation. The composition analysis results of meatballs with whey protein and phosphate-free meatballs exhibited no significant differences. The hygiene quality test showed that the total plate count of all meatball groups were had less than 105 CFU/mL and Escherichia coli and coliforms weren’t detected. In summary, although adding soy protein negatively influenced the meatballs’ sensory perceptions, all other types of food protein additives improved the texture of phosphate-free meatballs. The sensory evaluation indicated that adding whey protein is the most effective way to improve a meatball’s texture. The sensory evaluation results indicated that the overall acceptance of meatballs with whey protein was not significantly different from that of meatballs with phosphate.