Technological and microbial changes in cooked sausages incorporating cooked chickpea as a meat replacer and powdered...

This study investigated the quality and microbial dynamics of vacuum-packaged cooked pork sausages reformulated by partially replacing meat protein (13%) with cooked chickpea paste and incorporating powdered banana pseudostem (BPS; 0%-0.4%) as a fibre source. Four sausages: Control (CON), CCP without BPS (CCP-0), and CCP with low (0.2%) or high (0.4%) BPS (CCP-BL and CCP-BH) were analysed over 20 days of refrigerated vacuum storage (3-7 °C). Composition, liquid retention, texture profile, colour, and microbial counts were evaluated. High-resolution shotgun metagenomics was applied to characterize bacterial and fungal dynamics. Composition and cooking yield remained unaffected by the reformulations (p > 0.05). However, substituting meat with cooked chickpea increased centrifugation loss (2 percentage points) and decreased hardness (2-3N), chewiness (∼3 N), and elasticity (0.04-0.05 units). Incorporating BPS increased initial product pH (up to 0.1 units), while decreasing lightness (up to 4 units). Initial total mesophilic bacterial counts were about 1 Log CFU/g higher in sausages with BPS and reached levels near 7 Log CFU/g across all batches by day 10. Adding chickpea supported the growth and survival of Enterobacteriaceae during storage. Shotgun metagenomics revealed that Brochothrix thermosphacta dominated the spoilage microbiota in CON and CCP-0 batches, exceeding 80% relative abundance by day 20. Conversely, BPS inclusion introduces plant-associated taxa (Klebsiella michiganensis and Pantoea rwandensis), significantly elevating alpha diversity and reducing B. thermosphacta percentage (< 20% relative abundance). While cooked chickpeas alter sausage textural characteristics, BPS serves as a functional fibre that modulates vacuum-packaged spoilage ecology.