Microstructure, texture profile and descriptive analysis of texture for traditional and light mortadella

• It was applied the DTS and TPA to evaluate the textural perception of mortadella.
• The light mortadella is harder than traditional mortadella (DTA and TPA).
• The hardness of the light mortadella is explained by a raise at the matrix clutter.
• The sensory hardness was positively correlated with instrumental springiness.

The diet is an important modifiable factor that influences the development of chronic diseases. There is a lot of evidence demonstrating the importance of diet modifications on consumer health. However, the consumers demand low fat products without any loss of their texture quality. In this research, descriptive analysis of texture was used to study the influence of two fat level mortadella on sensory texture and to be compared with the texture data given by a texture profile analysis. Two samples of mortadella of a Brazilian commercial brand, traditional and light, were evaluated by 11 trained panelists. The trained sensory panel rated the light mortadella as harder than the traditional mortadella. The texture profile analysis showed that light mortadella was harder than the traditional mortadella too. The increase of the toughness of the light mortadella (low-fat) is explained by a raise at the matrix clutter analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. A correlation analysis showed that the sensory hardness was positively correlated with instrumental springiness. Further, studies should be performed to study consumer's perception of meat products with known differences in their formulation and to compare consumer and trained panelist texture perception of these products.

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