Abstract:
Xylopia aethiopica (African pepper) and Monodora myristica (African nutmeg) are used as spices in Ghanaian local dishes and as traditional medicine. The objective of this study was to substitute two spices in “normal” fresh pork sausage formulation with selected local spices and evaluate their effect on sensory and microbiological characteristics of the product. A 4x4 factorial design was used with 4 spice treatments (Control – Syzygium Gaertner (clove), Allium cepa (onion), Piper nigrum (white pepper) and Myristica fragrans (nutmeg); African pepper (AP) substituted for white pepper; African nutmeg (AN) substituted for nut meg (Myristica fragrans); and combination of AP and AN (AP*AN) at 4 inclusion levels (0%, 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.15%). AP and AN were obtained from the local market in Accra. They were cleaned, dried and blended. The spices were irradiated with dose of 10KGY to reduce microbial load. The experiment had three replicates each replicate was made up of lb treatments. Six trained panelists evaluated the sausages using a 15 cm continuous scale on six sensory parameters (crumbliness, juiciness, palatability, saltiness, off flavour and overall liking), the formulated sausages with the selected local spices at varying concentrations did not differ (p ˃0.05) from the control product in all the sensory parameters. However, AP treated sausage at 0.15% was overall rated high. Culture of specimen-Aerobic bacteria, coliforms and E. coli were counted for the respective treatments stored for 0, 3, and 6 days at 4oC. Substituting nutmeg with AN up to 0.15% significantly (p ˃ 0.05) increased aerobic bacteria count. However, the substitution did not affect coliform and E. coli counts. Microbial count during storage at 0, 3 and 6 days at 4oC exhibited different growth patterns. For aerobic plate count, mean log10 CFU/g count for aerobic bacteria and coliforms significantly increased between day 0 and day 3 and decreased from day 3 to 6. Coliform, mean log count similarly increased from day 0 to day 3. No significant (p ˃ 0.05) difference in log count was observed from day 3 to day 6. E coli log10 CFU/g count decreased from day 0 to day 3, however, a significant increase in log count was observed from day 3 to day 6. The present study shows that Xylopia aethiopica and Monodora myristica can be used to substitute for Piper nigrum and Myritica fragrans respectively, in the manufacture of fresh pork sausages without affecting the sensory attributes and overall liking of the product. However, the addition of such spices could alter microbial profiles significantly.
