Effect of beating processing, as a means of reducing salt content in frankfurters: A physico-chemical and Raman spectroscopic study

• Using beating process, L⁎-value, cooking yield and hardness improved.
• Using beating process, β-sheets increased and α-helix content decreased.
• Using beating process, more tyrosine residues were exposed to polar environment.
• Using beating process decreased the CH stretching and CH2 and CH3 bending.
• Improved salt content, decreased the CH stretching and CH2 and CH3 bending

Structural changes, L⁎-value, cooking yield changes and textural properties of pork frankfurters containing 1% or 2% salt, produced by the two methods were studied by Raman spectroscopy and texture profile analysis. Increasing salt content from 1% to 2% increased the L⁎-value, cooking yield and hardness, and decreased (p < 0.05) the C-H stretching and CH2 and CH3 bending vibrations, but did not affect the changes of secondary structures, tryptophan or tyrosine residues. Compared with the chopping, the beating increased L⁎-value, cooking yield and hardness of the frankfurters in both salt concentrations. It also resulted in an increase in β-sheets, accompanied by a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in α-helix content, a greater exposure of tyrosine residues to the polar environment and a decrease in the CH stretching and CH2 and CH3 bending vibrations. The results showed that the beating process enabled lowering of the salt content while improving the L⁎-value, cooking yield and hardness of the frankfurters.