Study on application of pumpkin seed protein isolate in sausage production process

The object of the research is sausage added with pumpkin seed protein isolate. Recently, plant proteins such as soybean protein and peanut protein are widely applied in meat products. Plant proteins have a lower price and less fat than animal meat, which is benefit for human health. Pumpkin seed protein is one of the new plant proteins, which contained balanced amino acids for human beings, was attracted an increasing interest in food industry. In this study, a new type of sausage was developed by single-factor experiments and orthogonal test. According to the single factor results, the added amount of the pumpkin seed protein isolate (1.5 g/100 g, 2.25 g/100 g, 3.0 g/100 g), lean meat (60 g/100 g, 70 g/100 g, 80 g/100 g), cooking time (35 min, 40 min, 45 min), and baking time (2.5 h) were determined to do the orthogonal test. The orthogonal test showed that the addition amount of pumpkin seed protein isolate had the greatest impact on the sausage quality, followed by the cooking time, and the addition amount of lean meat. The optimal production conditions were pumpkin seed protein isolate of 1.5 g/100 g, lean meat of 80 g/100 g, cooking time of 45 min, and baking time of 2.5 h. Under this condition, the sensory score reached 8.5, and the content of moisture, ash, protein, and fat were 51.16 g/100 g, 2.26 g/100 g, 15.22 g/100 g, and 23.15 g/100 g, respectively. This study can provide a fundamental knowledge for the application of pumpkin seed protein isolate in sausages.