THE EFFECT OF HIGHER LEVELS OF EGG ALBUMEN AS BINDER IN BEEF BURGER

Abstract

The study determined the suitability, binding effect and yield of beef burger formulated with egg albumen as a binder at higher inclusion levels. The four different levels of inclusion of the egg albumen per kilogram of meat were 0, 200, 250 and 300g which corresponded to each treatment T1(control), T2 (18%), T3 (22.5%) and T4 (27%), respectively. Equal amount of spices were added to the meat (g/kg). The burgers were manually moulded using a cylindrical tube to obtain uniform sizes. They were vacuum-packed in transparent packaging bags and stored at 4°c for laboratory and sensory analysis. Egg albumen had no effect (P>0.05) on the cooking loss and lateral shrinkage of the products, but the doming was significantly different (P<0.05). Doming was higher in T3 and T4 than T1 and T2. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the sensory parameters of the beef burgers except for cohesiveness. Beef burgers with egg albumen were firmer than the control beef burger. The egg albumen significantly (P<0.05) reduced the fat content of T3 and T4. The protein content of the burgers was not significantly different (P>0.05) between the control and test beef burgers. The pH and moisture contents of the control beef burgers were significantly lower (P<0.05) than the test beef burgers.