Effect of chitosan-caraway coating on color stability and lipid oxidation of traditional dry fermented sausage

Abstract

Chitosan, the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature, after cellulose, has been tested for numerous applications, among which for edible film and coating. Chitosan-based coating showed positive results for shelf life prolongation of meet products. In this paper, dry fermented sausage (Petrovská klobása) was coated with chitosan-caraway film. The effect of coating on the moisture content, color and lipid oxidation was investigated during a fivemonth period of storage. The moisture content decreased rapidly during the storage and the coating did not slow down the loss of moisture. The Lightness (L*) of the sausage surface increased by the coating application, while the redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) did not change. The coated sausages showed a better color stability of the sausage core through the storage time. Also, coated sausage showed a better oxidative stability till the 60th day of storage, while this difference was not detected at the end of the storage period. Apart from slowing down sausage drying during the storage, chitosan-caraway coating was effective in preserving the sausage quality.