Effects of Addition of Gum Tragacanth on Quality Characteristics of Frankfurters

Frankfurters are subject to problems such as water and oil separation during their production, transport and storage, affecting the quality of the sausages. Therefore, how to improve the quality characteristics of frankfurters has always been the focus of meat processing research. This study investigated the influence of the addition of different amounts of gum tragacanth (0, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5%, m/m) on the quality characteristics of frankfurters. The results showed that the addition of gum tragacanth significantly decreased the cooking loss, and increased the emulsion stability of frankfurters (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, with increasing concentration of gum tragacanth, the hardness, springiness, fracturability and L^* value of frankfurters were firstly increased and then declined, reaching a maximum at 0.3% gum tragacanth. The results of dynamic rheological tests revealed that the incorporation of gum tragacanth increased the storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G”) and decreased the loss angle tangent (tanδ) of meat batter, indicating improved viscoelasticity. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the addition of astragalus gum significantly improved the organizational state of sausage gels, resulting in the formation of a dense and uniform three-dimensional gel network structure. In conclusion, the incorporation of gum tragacanth can significantly improve the quality characteristics of frankfurters, the effect being most pronounced at 0.3% gum tragacanth.