Meat Science 152 (2019) 88–95

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Meat Science
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Ultrasound: A new approach to reduce phosphate content of meat emulsions T

a a a
Mariana Basso Pinton , Leticia Pereira Correa , Michelle Maria Xavier Facchi ,
Rosane Teresinha Hecka, Yasmim Sena Vaz Leãesa, Alexandre José Cichoskia,
José Manuel Lorenzob, Mirian dos Santosc, Marise Aparecida Rodrigues Pollonioc,
Paulo Cezar Bastianello Campagnola,
⁎

a
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, CEP 97105-900, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
b
Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia, Parque Tecnológico de Galicia, San Cibrán das Viñas, Rúa Galicia N 4, Ourense, Spain
c
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CEP 13083-862, São Paulo, Brazil

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Meat emulsions with a reduction of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of phosphate levels were produced. Soon after
Check-all-that-apply filling, the pieces were sonicated in an ultrasonic bath (normal mode, 60% amplitude, 25 KHz frequency, 230 W
Healthier meat products acoustic power, and 33 W L−1 volumetric power) for 0, 9, and 18 min. The technological, oxidative, and sensory
Texture profile quality was evaluated. The reduction of the phosphate content in the non-sonicated samples led to a decrease in
Water-holding capacity
the cooking yield and emulsion stability and impaired the texture profile, and the oxidative and sensory quality
of the samples. Although the 9-min ultrasound treatment was not effective to compensate for defects caused by
the phosphate reduction, the application for 18 min improved the technological quality and did not increase the
lipid oxidation. In addition, it allowed reducing most of the sensory defects caused by the reduction of 50% of
the phosphate level. Therefore, the US can be useful to produce low-phosphate meat emulsions.

1. Introduction approximately 1/3 of the phosphate ingested by consumers comes from

The demand for healthier foods has increased significantly in recent
years and the food industry has developed new products to meet this
demand. Emulsified meat products, such as bologna and sausages, are
widely consumed all over the world and are of great economic im-
portance to the meat industry. These products contain high fat, high
sodium, and chemical additives; thus, they have been targets for food
reformulation from the perspective of improving the nutritional quality
and consumers' health.
Phosphates are additives widely used in the manufacture of emul-
sified meat products. These compounds act synergistically with NaCl in
the extraction and solubilization of myofibrillar proteins, which are
responsible for the water retention capacity, emulsification and fat re-
tention in the meat emulsion and the stability of the gel formed during
cooking (Desmond, 2006). Phosphates can also increase the oxidative
stability (Pohlman, Stivarius, McElyea, Johnson, and Johnson, 2002)
and improve tenderness and juiciness of meat products (Baublits,
Pohlman, Brown Jr, and Johnson, 2005).
Although the recommended daily intake of phosphate is 700 to
800 mg, phosphate intake exceeds 1200 mg per day in developed
countries (Rahabi-Layachi, Isabelle, and Kamel, 2015). In addition,
industrialized foods, especially meat products (Coates, Blackman,
Cragg, Levine, and Moss, 2005). The high phosphate intake is very
worrisome for people with chronic kidney disease, whereby phosphate
excretion capacity is impaired. This can lead to an accumulation of
serum phosphate levels, thus increasing the risk of mortality among
patients by 20 to 40% (Tentori et al., 2008), as well as increasing the
occurrence of heart disease (Malluche and Mawad, 2002; Ribeiro et al.,
1998). The high phosphate intake can also be harmful for people who
do not have kidney problems, as it can lead to a reduction in calcium
absorption due to the formation of insoluble salts in the intestine, thus
increasing the risk of developing bone diseases (Masuyama et al., 2003;
McGartland et al., 2003; Wyshak and Frisch, 1994).
Ultrasound (US) is an innovative technology that has gained a lot of
importance in the food industry due to its ability to inactivate micro-
organisms and enzymes at low temperatures, without altering flavor,
color, and nutritional quality of foods (Bevilacqua, Sinigaglia, and
Corbo, 2013; Horžić, Jambrak, Belščak-Cvitanović, Komes, and Lelas,
2012; Rastogi, 2011). In the meat industry, the US has been mainly
used to increase meat tenderness (Jayasooriya, Torley, D'Arcy, and
Bhandari, 2007; Stadnik, & Dolatowski, 2011), improve the cooling
process of broiler chickens (Flores et al., 2018) and increase the shelf-

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: paulo.campagnol@ufsm.br (P.C.B. Campagnol).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.02.010
Received 15 October 2018; Received in revised form 13 December 2018; Accepted 14 February 2019
Available online 16 February 2019
0309-1740/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.B. Pinton, et al. Meat Science 152 (2019) 88–95

Table 1
Formulations of reduced-phosphate meat emulsions treated with ultrasound.
Treatments PR (%)a Beef (%) Pork backfat (%) NaCl (%) Phosphate (%)b Water (%) US time (min.)

ControlPR0% 0 75 15 2.5 0.5 7 0

US9PR0% 0 75 15 2.5 0.5 7 9
US18PR0% 0 75 15 2.5 0.5 7 18
ControlPR25% 25 75 15 2.5 0.375 7.125 0
US9PR25% 25 75 15 2.5 0.375 7.125 9
US18PR25% 25 75 15 2.5 0.375 7.125 18
ControlPR50% 50 75 15 2.5 0.25 7.25 0
US9PR50% 50 75 15 2.5 0.25 7.25 9
US18PR50% 50 75 15 2.5 0.25 7.25 18
ControlPR75% 75 75 15 2.5 0.125 7.375 0
US9PR75% 75 75 15 2.5 0.125 7.375 9
US18PR75% 75 75 15 2.5 0.125 7.375 18
ControlPR100% 100 75 15 2.5 0 7.5 0
US9PR100% 100 75 15 2.5 0 7.5 9
US18PR100% 100 75 15 2.5 0 7.5 18

a
PR: Phosphate reduction.
b
Phosphate: Sodium tripolyphosphate (NovaProm).

life of sausages (Cichoski et al., 2015).
Several studies have reported that the US treatment altered the
structure and improved the functional properties of dietary proteins,
such as whey proteins (Jambrak, Manson, Lelas, Herceg, and Herceg,
2008; Jambrak, Manson, Lelas, Paniwnyk, and Herceg, 2014), soy
protein isolate (Hu et al., 2013) and egg proteins (Arzeni, Pérez, and
Pilosof, 2012). Li, Kang, Zhao, Xu, and Zhou (2014) have shown that
the application of the US caused a modification in the protein structure
of the chicken meat, thereby improving the emulsification and gelling
properties. The improvement of the cohesive properties between the
meat particles by the US is a technological advantage that may allow for
a reduction in the use of additives. Thus, the US technology can be used
as a new tool to develop emulsified meat products with healthier
characteristics. To the best of our knowledge, no information is avail-
able on the use of US as strategy to reduce phosphate content of meat
emulsions. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate
the effect of the application of US on the technological, oxidative, and
sensory quality of meat emulsions with reduced phosphate content.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Elaboration of the meat emulsions and application of US
The entire experiment was repeated 3 times in 3 different days
(n = 3). Ten pieces (~ 100 g) per treatment were produced in each day.
Lean beef meat (Vastus lateralis, moisture: 71.1% ± 0.1; protein:
21.7% ± 0.3; fat: 2.9 ± 0.1) and pork back fat (moisture:
12.1% ± 0.1; protein: 7.9% ± 0.1; fat: 82.1 ± 0.4) were purchased
in the local market. The raw materials (0–2 °C) were ground separately
(PJ-22 Plus Professional, Jamar, Brazil) using a 5 mm disc. Then, beef
was comminuted in the cutter (0.5 L 60 Hz, G-Paniz, Brazil) along with
NaCl, sodium tripolyphosphate (Na5P3O10, NovaProm, Brazil), and ice
water (2–4 °C) (Table 1). After 20 s, pork back fat was added and
10 MF2, Singen, Germany), with a nominal power of 1000 W, operating
in the normal mode, 60% amplitude, and 25 KHz frequency. The
normal mode is characterized by providing a frequency stabilization,
and promoting a continuous flow and better wave distribution in the
bath (Elma, 2014). These parameters were based on the study by
Cichoski et al. (2019). The internal dimensions of the ultrasonic bath
tank were approximately 300 × 240 × 150 mm (W x D x H). The tank
was filled with 6.9 L water and ice was used to maintain water at 20 °C
during the US application. The ultrasonic bath presented a 230 W
acoustic power (Koda, Kimura, Kondo, and Mitome, 2003). The volu-
metric power (approximately 33 W L−1) was determined by calori-
metric method (Feng, Barbosa-Cánovas, and Weiss, 2011).
2.2. Cooking of the meat emulsion
The meat emulsion was cooked in water using three cooking stages,
as follows: 30 min at 60 °C; 30 min at 70 °C and 80 °C until reaching the
internal temperature of 72 °C, which was monitored with a thermo-
couple inserted in the center of one sample (discarded after cooking)
(de Almeida et al., 2015). After cooking, the samples were immediately
cooled in an ice bath until reaching a temperature below 10 °C. The
samples were vacuum packed in low-density polyethylene bags (16 μm
thickness, with oxygen transmission rate of 6 cm3/m2.day at 23 °C and
75% RH and water vapor transmission rate 2.6 g/ m2.day at 23 °C and
75% RH) and stored under refrigeration (4 °C) until analysis (~ 24 h).
2.3. Cooking yield
Approximately 20 g of raw meat emulsion was packed in poly-
ethylene bags. The bags were sealed, and the samples were cooked in
water at 70 °C for 60 min. The cooking yield was calculated from the
initial and final cooked weights, in quintuplicate, as shown in Eq. (1)
(Parks and Carpenter, 1987).

Weight of batter before cooking (g ) Weight of the batter after cooking (g )

Cooking yield (%) = 100 × 100
Weight of batter before cooking (g ) (1)

communition was performed until the formation of the meat emulsion.
The temperature of the meat emulsions did not exceed 10 °C during
comminution. The meat emulsions were stuffed in water-impermeable
plastic casings (46 μm thickness, 32 mm in diameter, Viskase, Brazil).
Immediately after filling, the pieces were sonicated for 0, 9, and
18 min (Table 1) in an ultrasonic bath (Elma Schmidbauer GmbH, TI-H-
2.4. Emulsion stability
The emulsion stability was evaluated in quintuplicate according to
the methodology described by Colmenero, Ayo, and Carballo (2005).
Five grams of raw meat emulsion was placed in 25 mL Falcon tubes.
Samples were centrifuged at 2 °C for 5 min at 388g in a high-speed

89
M.B. Pinton, et al.
cooled centrifuge (model CR226II, Hitachi KokiCo., Japan). The sam-
ples were then heated at 95 °C for 40 min and cooled in an ice bath to
10 °C. The total liquid released after cooling was weighed into 50 mL
glass beakers, kept at 105 °C for complete water evaporation, and
weighed to determine the fat released. The water and fat release were
calculated using the Eqs. (2) and (3), respectively.
Weight of total fluid released (g ) Weight of fat released (g )
Waterexudation (%) =
Weight of batter (g )
× 100
Weight of fat released (g )
Fat exudation (%) = × 100
Weight of batter (g )
2.5. Texture profile analysis (TPA)
TPA was performed in a texture analyzer equipped with a 25 kg load
cell (TA-TX2, Stable Micro Systems Ltd., Surrey, England). Five samples
per treatment were subjected to TPA. Four cylinders (2 cm thick and
2 cm in diameter) of each cooked meat emulsion (20 cylinders per
treatment) were sampled with a cylindrical knife and compressed axi-
ally in two consecutive cycles of 50% compression. A probe of 40 mm
diameter was used with a constant velocity of 1 mm/s. The texture
parameters hardness (N), cohesiveness, springiness (mm), and chewi-
ness (N) were determined.
2.6. pH and water activity (Aw)
Ten grams of sample was mixed with distilled water (1:10), and the
pH measurements were performed using a DM 23 electrode (Digimed,
Brazil). Aw was determined using the Aqualab 4TE apparatus (Decagon,
Pullman, USA). Both determinations were performed in triplicate using
3 cooked samples for each treatment.
2.7. TBARS
The TBARS values of the treatments ControlPR0%, ControlPR25%,
ControlPR50%, US18PR0%, US18PR25%, and US18PR50% were determined
after 1, 7, 14, and 21 days of storage, in triplicate, according to the
methodology described by Bruna, Ordonez, Fernández, Herranz, and
Hoz (2001), using trichloroacetic acid instead of perchloric acid as
solvent.
2.8. Sensory evaluation
The sensory profile of the treatments ControlPR0%, ControlPR25%,
ControlPR50%, US18PR0%, US18PR25%, and US18PR50% was evaluated
after 5 days of storage at 4 °C. For that, the treatments were made as
described in Sections 2.1–2.3 and Table 1. However, to provide pro-
ducts similar to the commercial products, additives (0.015% sodium
nitrite; 0.025% sodium erythorbate) and seasonings (0.1% garlic; 0.2%
coriander; 0.1% black pepper) were added to the formulations, and the
amount of water was reduced (Table 1) for the total sum of the in-
gredients to remain at 100%.
The sensory acceptance tests and Check all that apply (CATA) were
used to trace a sensory profile of Bologna sausages with reduced
phosphate levels. Samples were presented to consumers in a monadic
form (Stone, Bleibaum, and Thomas, 2012), coded with three-digit
numbers, and the order of presentation followed a balanced design, as
described by Macfie, Bratchell, Greenhoff, and Vallis (1989). All tests
were performed in individual booths with fluorescent light (350 lx).
The sensory evaluation was performed with 100 consumers recruited
among students, staff, and professors at the Federal University of Santa
Maria (Brazil), aged between 18 and 60 years (Meilgaard, Carr, and
Civille, 2006). The study protocol was approved by the Committee for
Ethics in Research on Humans of UFSM (CAAE:
Meat Science 152 (2019) 88–95
91346618.9.0000.5346), and all participants signed a free and in-
formed consent form, agreeing voluntarily to participate in the sensory
tests.
The acceptance test was applied using a structured hedonic scale of
nine points, with extremes varying from disliked very much (1) to liked
very much (9). The attributes color, aroma, flavor, texture, and overall
acceptance were evaluated. For the CATA test, consumers were asked to
mark all the sensory terms that characterized the sample. These terms
were generated by a group of 10 Bologna sausage consumers and in-
(2)
cluded the descriptors related to color (ideal), aroma (mild, acid,
pleasant, unpleasant, rancid), taste (pleasant, unpleasant, acid, salty,
and rancid) and texture (soft, juicy, and dry).
(3)
2.9. Statistical analysis
A randomized complete block design was used. Data were analyzed
by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using a general linear model proce-
dure, except for the CATA results. The treatments were considered as a
fixed effect and the repetitions as a random effect. The Tukey's test at
the 5% level of significance was used to compare the mean between
treatments. Pearson correlation test was performed and correlation
coefficients were calculated between pH, cooking yield and emulsion
stability of meat emulsions.
CATA data were recorded in a binary format (0: attribute not ticked;
1: attribute ticked). The Cochran's Q test was applied to compare the
products independently for each attribute, once a high proportion
means that the attribute was frequently ticked by consumers for the
considered product. A correspondence analysis was performed using
the chi-square distance calculated from a frequency table made with the
treatments in rows and the CATA terms in columns (Ares, Dauber,
Fernández, Giménez, and Varela, 2014).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Cooking yield and emulsion stability
The addition of phosphate during the manufacturing process of
meat products increases the muscle pH and ionic strength, which pro-
vides a greater extraction and solubilization of myofibrillar proteins
(Resconi et al., 2016). Cooking yield and emulsion stability are tech-
nological attributes positively correlated with the amount of myofi-
brillar proteins extracted during the comminution process. In this study,
the decrease in phosphate levels in the control treatments (without US)
led to a significant decrease in cooking yield (Fig. 1), with values of
9.34%, 12.75%, 16.45%, and 23.1%, for 25, 50, 75, and 100% phos-
phate reduction, respectively. This result was expected and agrees with
Fig. 1. Cooking yield of reduced-phosphate meat emulsions treated with ul-
trasound. Different letters presented significant differences by Tukey's test
(P < 0.05). SEM: 0.49.
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M.B. Pinton, et al.
Fig. 2. Emulsion stability of reduced-phosphate meat emulsions treated with
ultrasound. Fig. 2a: Percentage of water exudation (SEM: 0.70); Fig. 2b: Per-
centage of fat exudation (SEM: 0.65). Different letters presented significant
differences by Tukey's test (P < 0.05).
other authors who evaluated the phosphate reduction in meat products
(Matlock, Terrel, Savell, Rhee, and Dutson, 1984; Barbut and
Somboonpanyakult, 2007; Çarkcioǧlu, Rosenthal, and Candoǧan, 2016;
Cho, Bae, and Jeong, 2017). When comparing the treatments with the
same level of phosphate addition, the US application significantly in-
creased the cooking yield (Fig. 1). The samples subjected to 18 min of
US and up to 50% phosphate reduction (US18PR0%, US18PR25%, and
US18PR50%) showed the highest cooking yield among all treatments
(P < 0.05), while the sample with 75% phosphate reduction
(US18PR75%) presented a greater (P < 0.05) cooking yield than the
control sample not subjected to the US treatment (ControlPR0%).
The emulsion stability was determined as the percentage of water
release (Fig. 2a) and fat release (Fig. 2b). A reduction of 50% or greater
in phosphate concentration significantly increased the water and fat
release of the control treatments (not subjected to the US). A lower
emulsion stability was also reported by Yapar, Atay, Kayacier, and
Yetim (2006), who studied the phosphate reduction in emulsified meat
products. The application of 9 min of US was not sufficient to suppress
the defects in the emulsion stability due to the lower phosphate level.
However, the 18-min US application allowed the samples with up to
75% reduction (US18PR0%, US18PR25%, US18PR50%, and US18PR75%) to
have emulsion stability similar to (P > 0.05) or higher (P < 0.05)
than the control without phosphate reduction (ControlPR0%).
The improvement in the technological quality of meat emulsions
sonicated for 18 min suggests that the US caused a modification in the
structure of the myofibrillar proteins, leading to a greater interaction
between the polar and apolar groups of water and fat, respectively. In
addition, the sonication caused by the US may have improved the dif-
fusion of both salt and phosphate in the meat emulsion, thus con-
tributing to a greater solubilization of the myofibrillar proteins
(Inguglia, Zhang, Tiwari, Kerry, and Burgess, 2017; Kentish and Feng,
2014).
91
Meat Science 152 (2019) 88–95
3.2. Texture profile analysis
The texture is an important quality attribute of emulsified meat
products. The positive effects of the phosphate addition on the texture
attributes have been reported by several authors (Cho et al., 2017;
O'Flynn, Cruz-Romero, Troy, Mullen, and Merry, 2014; Sheard, Nute,
Richardson, Perry, and Taylor, 1999; Somboonpanyakult, Barbut,
Jantawat, and Chinprahast, 2007). This effect is due to the ability of
phosphate to increase the amount of solubilized myofibrillar proteins,
forming a more stable gel during cooking, thus providing a firmer and
more cohesive texture (Wang, Xu, and Zhou, 2009). In this study, the
addition of phosphate significantly influenced the texture parameters
(Fig. 3). The US-untreated samples with 75 and 100% phosphate re-
duction (ControlPR75% and ControlPR100%) presented a decrease in
hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, and chewiness in relation to the
US-untreated sample without phosphate reduction (ControlPR0%).
The application of the US significantly affected the texture of
cooked meat emulsions (Fig. 3). In general, no significant differences
were observed between the control and the samples subjected to 9 min
of US at same phosphate contents. A decrease (P < 0.05) in hardness
and chewiness was observed only for the 9-min treated samples without
the phosphate reduction (US9PR0%) when compared to the control. With
respect to the 18-min US application, a significant reduction was ob-
served for the hardness of meat emulsions when compared to the un-
treated sample with 0, 25, 50, and 75% phosphate reduction. This result
can be due to the higher water and fat retention of the samples sub-
jected to 18 min of US when compared to the untreated samples at the
same phosphate levels (Figs. 1 and 2). The 18-min US application also
reduced chewiness. This result is expected since these attributes are
secondary parameters related to hardness.
The reduction of cohesiveness and springiness is a serious problem
that can affect the quality of emulsified meat products, once they are
directly related to the sliceability. Resconi et al. (2015) reported that
the use of phosphate replacers led to an increase in water retention and
decreased hardness, resulting in less elastic and less cohesive products.
In this study, the samples subjected to 18 min of US with 75 and 100%
phosphate reduction (US18PR75% and US18PR100%) showed greater co-
hesiveness than their respective controls (ControlPR75% and Con-
trolPR100%), with no differences when compared to the control samples
with 0, 25, and 50% phosphate reduction. A similar behavior was ob-
served for the attribute springiness. Li, Kang, Zou, Xu, and Zhou (2015)
reported that the application of the US also improved the gel formation
properties of low-sodium chicken breast emulsion. According to those
authors, the cavitation generated by the US causes a change in the
native conformation and an eventual unfolding of the proteins, which
can improve the gel formation capacity by increasing cohesiveness and
springiness.
4. pH and Aw
Alkaline phosphates added to meat increase the pH of meat, thus
increasing the electrostatic repulsion between protein molecules
(Glorieux, Goemaere, Steen, and Fraeye, 2017), leading to an increase
in the distance between the protein chains, which allows a greater
water retention (Offer and Trinich, 1983). In this study, as expected, the
addition of an alkaline phosphate (sodium tripolyphosphate) caused a
significant increase in pH values of the control samples (not subjected
to the US) (Fig. 4a). Although the 9-min US application did not cause
major changes in pH, the 18-min application exerted a major impact on
the pH of meat emulsions (Fig. 4a). The samples subjected to 18 min of
US showed a pH increase from 0.4 to 0.86 units when compared to their
respective controls (P < 0.05). The Pearson correlation test indicated a
positive relationship (P < 0.01) between the increase in pH values
with the higher cooking yield (Fig. 1) and the emulsion stability (Fig. 2)
observed for the samples subjected to 18 min of US. Probably, this in-
crease in pH can be attributed to the formation of free radicals by US,
M.B. Pinton, et al. Meat Science 152 (2019) 88–95

Fig. 3. Texture profile analysis of reduced-phosphate cooked meat emulsions treated with ultrasound. Fig. 3a: Hardness (SEM: 6.87); Fig. 3b: Cohesiveness (SEM:
0.01); Fig. 3c: Springiness (SEM: 0.01); Fig. 3d: Chewiness (SEM: 4.45). Different letters presented significant differences by Tukey's test (P < 0.05).

which reacts with protein side chains, reducing their acidic groups
(Amiri, Sharifian, and Soltanizadeh, 2018; Li et al., 2014).
The Aw of meat emulsions ranged from 0.97 to 0.98 (Fig. 4b). The
control samples (not subjected to the US) showed similar Aw
(P > 0.05), thus demonstrating that the phosphate reduction did not
interfere with this parameter. In general, the application of 9 and
18 min of US did not cause changes in Aw of meat emulsion, except for
the samples without phosphate addition subjected to 18 min of US
(US18PR100%), which exhibited a higher Aw compared to the control
(ControlPR100%). This result is well correlated with the differences in
cooking yield of these treatments (83.43% vs. 66.28% for US18PR100%
and Control PR100%, respectively, Fig. 1).
In summary, the 9-min ultrasound treatment was not effective to
compensate the defects caused by phosphate reduction. However, the
application of 18 min of US improved the technological quality of meat
emulsions, and therefore, it was chosen for the second experiment, in
which, the lipid oxidation and sensory quality were evaluated.

4.1. TBARS

TBARS levels from 0.3 to 1.0 mg/kg can be considered as a

threshold in meat products linked to consumer perception of unpleasant
aroma and taste (Gray and Pearson, 1987; Melton, 1983). The TBARS
values of the samples subjected to 18 min of US and their respective
controls with 0, 25, and 50% phosphate reduction did not exceed these
values during the 21 days of storage (Table 2). When comparing the
untreated samples (ControlPR0%, ControlPR25%, and ControlPR50%), it
can be observed that the 50% phosphate reduction led to an increase
(P < 0.001) in TBARS values after 7, 14, and 21 days of storage. This
result was expected, once the alkaline phosphates have the ability to
sequester metal ions, reducing the oxidative rancidity (Feiner, 2006). In
agreement with these results, Lee, Hendricks, and Cornforth (1998) also
reported that the addition of alkaline phosphates reduced the lipid Fig. 4. (a and b) pH (SEM: 0.06) and water activity (SEM 0.002), respectively,
oxidation of restructured beef. of reduced-phosphate cooked meat emulsions treated with ultrasound. Different
letters presented significant differences (P < 0.05).
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M.B. Pinton, et al. Meat Science 152 (2019) 88–95

Table 2
TBARS values (mg Malonaldehyde/kg sample) of reduced-phosphate meat emulsions treated with ultrasound.
Days ControlPR0% ControlPR25% ControlPR50% US18PR0% US18PR25% US18PR50% SEM p-value

b b b c b a
1 0.056 0.062 0.063 0.026 0.057 0.096 0.003 ⁎
7 0.061d 0.058d 0.116a 0.057d 0.069c 0.081b 0.003 ⁎
14 0.051c 0.062b 0.169a 0.054c 0.057c 0.135a 0.009 ⁎
21 0.099c 0.116bc 0.197a 0.091c 0.094c 0.137b 0.01 ⁎

SEM- Standard error of the mean. Mean values within the same line horizontally followed by the same lowercase letters did not show any significant difference
(P > 0.05) by Tukey test. Batches: Described in Table 1.
⁎
P < 0.001.

Fig. 5. Representation of the samples and the terms in the first and second dimensions of correspondence analysis performed on data questions check-all-that-apply
(CATA). Batches: Described in Table 1.

Table 3
Results of consumer study of reduced-phosphate bologna-sausages treated with ultrasound.
ControlPR0% ControlPR25% ControlPR50% US18PR0% US18PR25% US18PR50% SEM p-value

a a a a a a
Color 7.18 6.92 6.78 7.05 6.99 6.95 0.22 n.s.
Aroma 6.63a 6.55a 6.02b 6.54a 6.52a 6.23ab 0.25 ⁎
Flavor 6.82ab 6.96a 6.09b 7.11a 6.78ab 6.16b 0.27 ⁎
Texture 6.36a 6.19a 5.83b 6.38a 6.14a 6.34a 0.27 ⁎
Overall acceptance 6.76a 6.75a 6.03b 6.77a 6.61ab 6.32ab 0.24 ⁎

SEM- Standard error of the mean. Mean values within the same line followed by the same lowercase letters did not show any significant difference (P > 0.05) by
Tukey test. Batches: Described in Table 1.
n.s. (not significant).
⁎
P < 0.05.

The application of US can lead to the formation of free radicals, thus
increasing the speed of lipid oxidation reactions. However, the forma-
tion of the free radicals is influenced by various factors, e.g., pressure,
temperature, ultrasound settings and type of liquid (Kuijpers, Kemmere,
and Keurentjes, 2002). For these reasons there is conflicting data in the
literature on the effect that the US causes on lipid oxidation of foods. In
this study, when comparing the US-treated samples with their re-
spective controls, it can be seen that the US conditions of this study did
not cause an increase in lipid oxidation of the cooked meat emulsions. A
similar tendency was also reported by McDonnell, Lyng, and Allen
(2014) who assessed the application of US in pork meat.
4.2. Sensory evaluation
The correspondence analysis (CA) used to evaluate the descriptors
generated by the CATA questionnaire is presented in Fig. 5. The CA
explained 87.5% of the total variation, with 78.86% and 8.64% in the
first and second dimensions, respectively. For this sensory map, the
treatments were separated into three distinct groups, and the con-
sumers did not detect the differences between the US-treated samples

93
M.B. Pinton, et al.
and their respective controls. The treatments ControlPR50% and
US18PR50% were grouped in the upper right quadrant, the ControlPR0%
andUS18PR0% in the upper left quadrant, and the treatments Con-
trolPR25% and US18PR25% in the lower left quadrant.
The treatments without phosphate reduction (ControlPR0% and
US18PR0%) were characterized by the salty descriptor, which may be
related to the higher amount of sodium of these treatments, once the
sodium tripolyphosphate used in the formulations has about 30% so-
dium in its constitution. The ControlPR0% and US18PR0% were also
characterized by the descriptors pleasant aroma and ideal color, which
is well correlated with the low lipid oxidation of these treatments
(Table 2). The treatments with 25% phosphate reduction (ControlPR25%
and US18PR25%) were characterized by the descriptors pleasant taste,
soft, and juicy. On the other hand, a great modification in the sensory
profile of Bologna sausages was observed for the treatments with 50%
phosphate reduction (ControlPR50% and US18PR50%), once they were
characterized mainly by the negative attributes dry, mild aroma, and
acid aroma.
The results of the consumer study are presented in Table 3. When
comparing the control treatments, it can be observed that the 25%
phosphate reduction did not affect the sensory acceptance of Bologna
sausages. However, the control with 50% phosphate reduction (Con-
trolPR50%) presented lower (P < 0.05) scores when compared to the
control without phosphate reduction (ControlPR0%) for the aroma,
texture and overall acceptance attributes. Concerning the US-treated
samples with 0 and 25% phosphate reduction, the 18-min US applica-
tion did not affect the sensory acceptance of these samples compared to
their respective controls. However, the sample US18PR50% presented the
higher texture scores (P < 0.05) than its respective control (Con-
trolPR50%). In addition, the sample US18PR50% did not differ significantly
from the control samples with 0% and 25% phosphate reduction
(ControlPR0% and ControlPR25%) for the attributes color, aroma, texture,
and overall acceptance.
Therefore, the results of the CATA test and the consumer study
suggest that the 25% phosphate reduction can be used without im-
pairing the sensory quality of this type of meat product. On the other
hand, the 50% phosphate reduction should be performed with caution
as it may impair important sensory attributes, which can be prevented
by the application of 18 min of US.
5. Conclusion
For the first time, the effect of ultrasound on the technological,
oxidative, and sensory quality of meat emulsions with reduced phos-
phate content was evaluated. The results showed that the application of
18 min of US in meat emulsion was effective to compensate for defects
in cooking yield and emulsion stability caused by the phosphate re-
duction. In addition, the 18-min US application made the products
more cohesive and did not increase the lipid oxidation. This condition
was also effective for reducing most of the sensory defects caused by the
50% phosphate reduction. Therefore, the US can be considered a pro-
mising technology for producing healthier, acceptable, and economic-
ally viable meat products.
Acknowledgements
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance
Code 001. Jose M. Lorenzo is member of the MARCARNE network,
funded by CYTED (ref. 116RT0503).
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