Physicochemical Properties of Chicken Thigh Meat Sausage Manufactured with Red Yeast Rice Powder

The effects of red yeast rice powder on physicochemical properties of chicken thigh meat sausage were investigated. Control sausages were prepared with 1.2% NPS (nitrite pickling salt). Others samples were prepared with 1%, 2%, and 3% red yeast rice powder and 1.2% NaCl. With increasing red yeast rice powder content, the pH of uncooked and cooked samples generally decreased. In addition, lightness, and yellowness decreased with increasing content of red yeast powder (P<0.05), whilst redness increased with increasing content of red yeast powder in sausage samples (P<0.05). In addition, the samples with red rice powder showed more than 3 times higher redness compared to samples with 1.2% NPS, regardless of addition level. No significant difference in cooking yield among the treatments. The hardness of samples increased with increasing red yeast rice powder content, while the cohesiveness of samples containing red yeast rice powder was less than those observed for the control. Consequently, red yeast rice powder can be used to improve redness in sausages without adverse effect on cooking yield. (