Formulation of Sausage with Encapsulated GO: Physicochemical, Microbial and Sensory Properties

Consumers prefer not to use synthetic preservatives so, natural ones such as essential oils (in this research, garlic oil (GO) are mostly consumed in food products as an antimicrobial agents. Application of garlic oil in food industries is limited. Because of its water insolubility, volatility, pungent odour and flavor, and low stability. Encapsulation could eliminate its restrictions. In the present study, different concentrations of free and encapsulated garlic oil in ß-cyclodextrin (GO/ß-CD) were used for formulation of sausage

Five types of sausage were produced, including control (without garlic oil), containing free garlic oil (GO), and three samples containing 546, 818, and 1364 mg of encapsulated garlic oil per kg. After that, changes of pH, color, oxidation indices (PV and TBARs(, monitoring of B. cereus, S. aureus, E. coli, and S. enterica, and sensory (taste, color, odor, and acceptability by 8-point hedonic test) properties were studied during 29 days storage at 4oC.

By increasing the GO/ß-CD content of samples, the overall color changes decreased. The pH of all produced sausages remained constant. At the end of storage, PV was not significantly changed, and TBARs changing was very low. S. aureus was the most susceptible, followed by S. enterica, E. coli, and B. cereus. In sensory evaluation, the panelists did not distinguish between the control and the samples containing GO/ß-CD. Encapsulation of garlic oil with beta-cyclodextrin did not affect the taste of the produced sausages. Due to good antimicrobial properties of garlic oil, it can be used in meat products as a natural preservative.