Design of healthier beef sausage formulations by hazelnut-based pre-emulsion systems as fat substitutes

In the present study, incorporation of pre-emulsified hazelnut oil (HO) plus hazelnut powder (HP) into sausage formulations as beef fat substitutes was investigated. Totally nine different treatments were formulated where beef fat (BF) was replaced with 0%, 50%, or 100% pre-emulsified HO with the addition of 0%, 3%, or 6% HP. Although pre-emulsion containing sausages had a higher lipid amount than BF containing sausages, SFAs went down from 47.2% to 13.6% while MUFAs increased from 41.8% to 71.3%, and PUFAs increased from 3.7% to 11.23% in sausages where BF was totally replaced. HO pre-emulsions were effective to improve nutritional ratios (P:S, IA, and IT) by means of lipid modification. Generally, no significant differences were recorded in textural and sensory parameters. Oxidative and technological quality could be maintained by HP addition to sausages with HO pre-emulsions. Consequently, the utilization of pre-emulsified HO and HP presented a good opportunity for introducing healthier oils and protecting the overall quality of emulsified meat products.