Sensory and nutritional qualities of beef sausages prepared with sweet potato puree as extender

This study investigated the effects of three varieties of sweet potato purees, that is orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFP), purple-fleshed sweet potato (PFP) and white-fleshed sweet potato (WFP) on the sensory and nutritional qualities of beef sausages. A complete randomized design was used to assign the sweet potato purees to the meat. The sweet potato purees were added to 2kg meat at 0% (TO 0%), 10% (OFP1 10%, PFP1 10% and WFP1 10%), and 15% (OFP2 15%, PFP2 15% and WFP2 15%) inclusion levels. The British Standard Institute procedure was adopted for sensory analysis. The official methods of analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists was used for nutritional analysis. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in sensory attributes of beef sausages except tenderness which were generally improved in the sweet potato beef sausages on day 14. The pH of the sweet potato beef sausages varied significantly (P<0.05) among the various inclusion levels. It was observed that whole beef sausages (TO 0%) had the lowest value and the values increased as inclusion level of sweet potato puree was increased. The moisture, protein and ash contents ranged from 63.60 ± 0.42 to 69.10 ± 0.42, 17.98 ± 0.24 to 19.79 ± 0.24 and 6.74 ± 0.18 to 8.71, respectively, and differed significantly (P<0.05) among the various inclusion levels. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in fat content of the beef sausages. Cooking loss ranged from 8.0 ± 4.0 to 25.0 ± 13.0 and differed significantly (P<0.05). The peroxide values were not different (P>0.05) on day 7, but increased with storage time. The iron (0.1949-0.3181 mg/kg), selenium (0.0305-0.1088 mg/kg) and zinc (0.0017-0.0670mg/kg) contents of the beef sausages differed significantly (P<0.05). The inclusion of sweet potato puree as an extender did not negatively affect the sensory and nutritional qualities of the beef sausages. Keywords: Beef sausages, meat, nutrient composition, sensory properties, sweet potato varieties