Qualitative Evaluation of Lamb Meat Sausage Prepared with Different Antioxidants

Consumer awareness and health consciousness has resulted in the use of natural additives or alternative methods to extend shelf life and improve food safety. The present study evaluated the quality and shelf-life of lamb meat sausage prepared with different natural antioxidants. The antioxidants (Turmeric, Garlic, Honey, Moringa and Ginger at 2% each) on the yield, sensory acceptability, chemical composition, lipid peroxidation, fatty acid profile and microbiological assay was studied in a completely randomized design. The results revealed that the turmeric, garlic and honey compared (p>0.05) favourably with the control in terms of yield and preferred (p<0.05) above others for colour, flavor, tenderness and overall acceptability. All the antioxidants have suppressing effects with lower values (P<0.05) on crude protein, ether extracts and lipid peroxidation as compared to the control. Variation exist in all the parameters of the fatty acid profile while the microbial loads of the lamb meat sausage samples showed a significant (p<0.05) reduction in the Total Bacterial counts (TBC), Total Coliform Counts (TCC) and Total Fungi Counts (TFC) for all samples prepared with natural antioxidants with the least values (p<0.05) reported in moringa samples as compared with others. Conclusively of the respective natural antioxidants in lamb meat sausage enhanced the cooking yield, nutrient composition and keeping qualities of the product and is therefore recommended for the product quality and safety.