Replacement of meat by spinach on physicochemical and nutritional properties of chicken burgers

Abstract

This study describes the replacement of meat by spinach on physicochemical and nutritional properties of chicken burgers. Three batches of chicken burgers were manufactured: control (burgers prepared with 100% of chicken meat), E10 (burgers manufactured with 10% of spinach and 90% of chicken meat), and E30 (burgers prepared with 30% of spinach and 70% of chicken meat). The replacement of meat by spinach significantly affected the color parameters, decreasing L*, a*, and b* values with the increasing of spinach amount addition. Burgers manufactured with 30% of spinach presented the lowest fat (5.76%), energy (146.75 Kcal/100 g), and NaCl (0.87%) contents. On the contrary, dietary fiber increased with the spinach amount added, showing the highest values in burgers from E30 group (4.27%).Regarding fatty acid profile, the highest values of PUFA were found in E30 samples, whereas the highest values of MUFA were found in E10 samples. Practical applications: A significant improvement in the nutritional quality of chicken burgers formulated with spinach addition was achieved. Therefore, the inclusion in the market of a meat product that traditionally has an image of highly caloric and with high amounts of fat totally reformulated and nutritionally improved opens the possibility for meat industries to reduce costs and manufacture products with better nutritional quality. Concerning to fatty acid profile and nutritional indices, burgers manufactured with spinach presented levels closer to the recommendation of healthier products.