Evaluation of microbiological and sensory properties of functional frankfurter sausage during storage

At the present study, the effects of 200 ppm nisin, 0.5% chitosan and 0.2% ε-polylysine to produce functional and nitrite free frankfurter type sausage incorporated with mixed green tea (GTE), stinging nettle (SNE) and olive leaves (OLE) extracts were investigated.Frankfurter type sausages containing 500 ppm mixed plant extracts were produced in 9 treatments (T1: 120 ppm sodium nitrite; T2: No antimicrobials; T3: 200 ppm nisin; T4: 0.5% chitosan; T5: 0.2% ɛ-polylysine; T6: 200 ppm nisin and 0.5% chitosan; T7: 200 ppm nisin and 0.2% ɛ-polylysine; T8: 0.5% chitosan and 0.2% ɛ-polylysine; T9: 200 ppm nisin, 0.5% chitosan and 0.2% ɛ-polylysine) and microbiological and sensory analyses were evaluated on 1, 15, 30, and 45 days during storage. At the end of the storage period, treatment 7 had significantly (P<0.05) the lowest total bacterial count (4.4 log CFU/g). Among different treatments of sausage, in T2 and T4 Cl. perfringens, in T6 S. aureus and in T1 and in T3 coliform were observed. E. coli and Salmonella were not detected in all sausage samples. Molds and yeasts count increased significantly (P<0.05) during storage, but in T8 and T9 were not detected.So that sensory results showed that T8 and T9 had a higher overall acceptability than other samples.Based on the results, T9 had the high microbiological quality, sensory properties andextended shelf-life, and can be introduce as a new strategy in meat industry and nitrite free meat products processing.