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

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.