Quality Characteristics of a Low-Fat Beef Patty Enriched by Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Vitamin D₃

Olive and linseed oils have high contents of oleic acid and n-3 fatty acids (FA), respectively. Vitamin D₃ , an essential nutrient, is in low contents in meat. This study investigated the potential application of olive and linseed oils' mixture as a backfat replacer, and vitamin D₃ as a supplement, in order to develop a product enriched by polyunsaturated FAs and vitamin D₃ . Two treatments were manufactured: conventional (C: 0% emulsion, 0 μg vitamin D₃ /100 g product) and modified (M: 10.9% emulsion/, 8.3 μg vitamin D₃ /100 g product). The quality characteristics and cooking effects on the FA and vitamin D₃ contents were assessed. The sensory properties of cooked patties were not affected by olive and linseed oils' mixture (P > 0.05). The instrumental textural parameters were lower in cooked M patties (P < 0.01), except springiness (P = 0.766) that was not affected by formulation. The contents of α-linoleic acid in M patty were 19-fold higher than those from C patty. The contents of n-3 and n-6 were higher in M patty (P < 0.05) than in C patty. Although cooking decreased the content of vitamin D₃ in M patty (6.7 compared with 5.2 μg/100 g product), considerable increments were achieved compared to C patty.

There is an increasing demand of consumers for healthier meat products; therefore, the improvement of their nutritional profile without negatively affecting quality characteristics is key factor for meat sector. This study emphasizes the feasibility of using the combination of olive and linseed oils' mixture and vitamin D₃ to yield new meat products with high contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D₃ . The effectiveness of combination of oils mixture and vitamin D₃ tested in this study is proven and the high contribution of vitamin D₃ and some fatty acids of nutritional interest identified.