PII 0309 1740(89)90063 6 Meat Science 25 (1989) 21 36 Comparison of Various Types of Starch when Used in Meat Sausages G Skrede Norwegian Food Research Institute, Oslovn 1, N 1430 Aas, Norway (Receive. Comparison of Various Types of Starch when Used in Meat Sausages
Meat Science 25 (1989) 21-36 Comparison of Various Types of Starch when Used in Meat Sausages G S k r e d e Norwegian Food Research Institute, Oslovn 1, N-1430 Aas, Norway (Received June 1988; revised version received 30 September 1988; accepted 10 November 1988) ABSTRACT Technological and sensory properties of meat sausages formulated with 4"0% of either potato flour, modified ( aeetylated distarch phosphate) potato starch, wheat, corn or tapioca starch were compared Sausages were analyzed after cooking at temperatures between 65 and 85° C followed by storage at 5°C and -25°C Characteristics evaluated were weight loss during cooking and storage, instrumentally and sensory assessed firmness, taste and smell of sausages The results revealed differences in the suitability of starches for use in meat sausages Part of the differences could be ascribed to differences in gelatination properties of the starches With the criteria used for evaluating quality, potato flour was rated as the best suited starch followed by wheat starch while tapioca was rated as the least suited Corn starch required cooking temperatures above 75°C and showed relatively low freeze~thaw stability The modified potato starch stored well both above and below the freezing point INTRODUCTION In m a n y countries, starch has traditionally been used in meat products to improve quality and occasionally to extend the more expensive meat fraction o f the product The effect is based on the ability of starch to gelatinize when heated in a water-containing medium, thereby binding relatively large amounts of water (Hodge & Osman, 1976) Gelatination causes swelling of starch granules and may result in gels when starch 21 Meat Science0309-1740/89/$03"50 © 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England Printed in Great Britain G Skrede 22 concentrations are optimal Prior to heating, starch exerts only minimum water-holding capacity Several types of starch are available for use in meat products They originate from various plant sources; grains (wheat, corn), tubers (potatoes) and roots (tapioca) and traditional use may have been based on geographical conditions rather than real evaluation of the suitability of each type Each starch has its specific characteristics which are reflected in size of native and swollen granules, gelatination temperatures (Swinkels, 1985) and storage ability of swollen granules both above and below freezing temperatures (Baldwin et al., 1972) In recent years, the choice of starches has been extended by the development of various modified types Chemical modification introduces new substituents in the starch molecules and results in changed technological properties (Howling, 1980) Several of the modified starches have been approved for human consumption (WHO, 1982) and they therefore are interesting for use in meat products The present investigation was undertaken to compare various types of starch which may be used in meat products The starches were formulated into meat sausages and the effects on technological and sensory properties of sausages were studied Optimal cooking temperatures and storage ability of sausages with each type of starch added, were evaluated MATERIALS A N D METHODS Starches Five types of starch were used in the experiments Those were potato flour (Norwegian potato flour), wheat starch (Latenstein, The Netherlands), corn starch, tapioca starch (Thai Wah Co., Ltd, Thailand) and modified potato starch (X-Amylacetat, Kartofelmelcentralen, Denmark) The modified potato starch was classified as an acetylated distarch phosphate Starch contents of the various types were determined prior to sausage production, using the method described by Skrede (1983) Experimental design In one series of experiments, the influence of cooking temperature for each type of starch was tested Sausages were cooked to a core temperature of 65, 70, 75, 80 or 85°C Sausages were produced from separate batches of raw materials and no direct comparison between starches could be made from this series of experiments In another series of experiments, starch was added to batter from Comparison of starches used in meat sausages 23 homogeneous batches of the raw materials Thus, variation in quality of sausages could be ascribed to the starches and direct comparison between starches could be made Two separate experiments with cooking temperatures of 72 and 78°C were performed No starch-free reference sausages were included in the present experiments When sausages are formulated without starch, other components (protein, fat and/or water) must be increased to compensate for the starch proportion Changes in proximate composition influence sausage characteristics and direct comparison between sausages with and without starch is difficult SausaLgeproduction Commercial, standardized meat and fat trims were kept frozen (-20°C) until processing of sausages In the first series of experiments when the influence of temperature for each :starch was investigated, the formula was: 45% Beef(standard: 15% fat, 18.4% protein, 66% water) 15°,/o Fat of pork (standard: 87.2% fat, 2.8% protein, 10% water) 34°,/0 water 1.8% NaC1 In 1:he second series where different starches were compared-after being added to identical batches of meat minces, the following ingredients were included: 28% Beef (standard: 15% fat, 18.4% protein, 66% water) 72/0 Pork (standard: 27% fat, 15.5% protein, 57% water) 232/0 Fat of pork (standard: 68"7% fat, 6"8% protein, 24% water) 35% skimmed milk 1-8% NaC1 No spices were added in either experiment Sausage batters for the first experiments were calculated to contain 8-6% protein and 19"9% fat while those for the second experiments contained 8"6% protein and 21.10/0 fat In the first experiments, the proteins originated from meat only In the second series of experiments, part of the protein originated from milk The first series included a larger proportion of beef fat than the second series The starch product to be investigated was added up to a starch content of 4"0% This was obtained by applying 4-9 g potato flour, 4.6 g wheat starch, 5.0 g corn starch, 4.7 g tapioca flour or 5"1 g modified potato starch per 100 g batter 24 G Skrede Meat and fat trims for processing were thawed for days at + 4°C prior to grinding (5mm plate) Batters were processed in a Kilia 30-1itre bowl chopper by adding ground meat trims, salt, water or skimmed milk, starch and ground fat trims successively within The chopper was operated for 2-3 at high speed; whereafter it was operated at low speed until the core temperature of the batters was 14°C Batters were stuffed into 19/21 mm casings (turkish goat guts) and sausages were cooked in water until desired core temperatures were obtained After cooking, sausages were cooled for 10 in water and stored at 5°C until next day when sausages were vacuum-packed (1 mm Hg) in plastic bags Sausages were stored in vacuum-packages at 5°C for and 19 days or at - ° C for months Analyses Cooking loss (%) in sausages during production and liquid exudation (%) from vacuum-packed sausages during storage were determined by weighing Firmness in sausages was determined using an Instron Universal Testing Instrument, model TM-SM (Instron Ltd, Great Britain) equipped with a conical penetrometer of mm upper width and 10 mm height (Andersson & Hansson, 1979) Samples were cm long pieces of sausages with the casing left on Measurements were taken perpendicular to the cut surface Penetration speed was 2.5 cm/min Twelve replicates for each sample were analyzed Firmness was calculated as the average maximum force needed to penetrate the cross-section of the sausages Sensory analysis was performed using a trained sensory panel of 12 judges Sausages were heated to 65°C core temperature in the vacuumpackages prior to testing Samples (half sausages) were served in a random order and the judges were instructed to remove the casing prior to tasting The properties evaluated were firmness, juiciness, graininess and stickiness along with typical taste and smell, off-taste, off-smell and rancidity A 9point hedonic scale was used for evaluation, the highest number being used for the highest intensity of each property Sensory quality index was calculated as the difference between the points given for desired and undesired properties of the sausages according to the following formula: Sensory quality index = (sensory firmness + juiciness + typical taste + typical smell) - (sensory graininess + stickiness + off-taste + off-smell + rancidity) The sensory quality index gives a relative measure of quality and should be as high as possible 25 Comparison of starches used in meat sausages A Lotal quality index which includes cooking loss and liquid exudation, was also calculated Total quality index is a relative measure o f overall starch performance when starch is used in sausage production The index should be as high as possible Total quality index = sensory quality index - (% cooking loss + % liquid exudation) Statistical analysis D a t a from sensory analysis were subjected to one-way analysis o f variance Tukey's test for multiple comparisons was applied to judge which treatment effect was significantly different (Scheff6, 1959) The smallest difference (Dso/o) for two means to be significantly different (P < 0.05) is reported RESULTS Optimizing cooking temperatures P o t a t o flour Results from the analyses of sausages with potato flour when cooked to various core temperatures are given in Table Cooking loss of sausages and liquid exudation in vacuum-packages were TABLE Cooking Loss, Liquid Exudation, Instrumentally Obtained Firmness and Total Quality Index in Sausages Containing Potato Flour a Cooking temperature (°C) 65 Cooking loss (%) 70 75 80 Ds~ 85 2"3 1'3 2"9 1.4 1.3 Cold storage Liquid exudation (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 4.2 274 1"8 4-3 272 2-6 3-5 280 1-9 4.0 309 2.4 4.4 298 2.6 1-3 16 Frozen storage Liquid exudation (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 6.2 248 -3.3 6'2 253 -2'9 6'1 262 -4.1 5.3 325 -0'6 5.0 324 0'2 1.3 17 m a Sausageswere cooked at various temperatures and analyseswere taken after days at 5°C or months at -25°C 26 G Skrede 12 , ~ , • L • 65 70 75 , 10 • Fig Sensoryquality index for sausages with 4.0% potato flour at varying cooking temperatures after days' storage at 5°C (A A) and after months at -25°C (0 O) i 80 Cooking temperature 85 (°C) not systematically influenced by cooking temperature of sausages when potato flour was used The amount of liquid exuded from sausages in vacuum-packages increased when sausages had been frozen Firmness of sausages increased significantly with increased cooking temperature This was more pronounced after frozen storage of the sausages Sensory quality index (Fig 1) was not influenced by cooking temperature of sausages with potato flour as long as sausages had 'not been frozen Included in the index were significant increases in firmness and graininess and significant decreases in juiciness with increasing cooking temperatures After frozen storage, the highest sensory quality indexes were found in sausages with high cooking temperatures (Fig i) The increase in the sensory quality index was partly caused by significantly lower rancidity and better overall taste of sausages at the higher cooking temperatures Total quality index increased slightly with increasing cooking temperature in both cold-stored and frozen-stored sausages (Table 1) Wheat starch The amount of liquid exuded from wheat-containing sausages when vacuum-packed, decreased as cooking temperature increased (Table 2) This was found both during storage at 5°C and after sausages had been frozen Frozen storage of sausages caused increased liquid exudation Firmness of sausages increased significantly with increasing cooking temperature; the effect was most pronounced before sausages were frozen (Table 2) Cooking losses of sausages containing wheat starch were not systematically changed when the cooking temperatures increased Sensory quality index (Fig 2) was negatively influenced by increases in Comparison of starches used in meat sausages 27 TABLE CookirLg Loss, Liquid Exudation, I n s t r u m e n t a l l y O b t a i n e d Firmness a n d Total Quality Index in Sausages C o n t a i n i n g W h e a t Starch = Cooking temperature (°C) 65 C o o k i n g loss (%) 70 75 Ds~ 80 85 6.4 5-9 6.2 8.0 4-8 Cold storage Liquid e x u d a t i o n (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 4-4 152 - 4-4 3"6 192 - 3.0 2.5 198 - 3.9 2-6 240 - 5"8 2'2 240 - 2-3 1-8 F r o z e n storage Liqulid e x u d a t i o n (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 6"6 168 -8"2 5.3 187 -6-7 5"1 2ll -5-9 3"8 219 -4.0 4.3 211 1.8 2.7 11 " Sausages were cooked at various t e m p e r a t u r e s a n d analyses were t a k e n after days at 5°C or m o n t h s at - ° C cooking temperature when sausages were stored at cold-room temperature The negative effects on quality in the cold-stored sausages were partly caused by significant decreases in juiciness and typical smell of sausages at the higher cooking temperatures After frozen storage, sausages cooked at the higher temperatures were significantly more firm, more juicy, more grainy and had more pronounced typical taste, less off-taste and off-smell than sausages cooked at lower temperatures High cooking temperatures had an overall positive effect on sensory quality index when sausages had been frozen "12 , , 10 "0 b g~ 09 o 65 ' zO ' 75 ~ 80 ~ 85 Cooking temperature (°(3) Fig Sensory quality index for sausages with 4-0% wheat starch at varying cooking t e m p e r a t u r e s after days' storage at 5°C (A A ) a n d after m o n t h s at - ° C (~ ~) 28 G Skrede Total quality index (Table 2) increased with increasing cooking temperature in both cold-stored and frozen-stored sausages The positive effect of high cooking temperature was more pronounced after the sausages had been frozen Corn starch In Table analytical data from sausages containing corn starch are presented Cooking loss and liquid exudation were not systematically influenced by the cooking temperature of the sausages Freezing caused increased amounts of liquid to exude from sausages stored in vacuum-packages Sensory quality indexes (Fig 3) for both cold-stored and frozen-stored sausages were extremely susceptible to changes in cooking temperatures when corn starch was used The sharp increase in sensory quality between cooking temperatures of 70 and 75°C was caused by significant increases in firmness, typical taste and smell of sausages along with decreases in graininess, stickiness, off-taste and off-smell of the sausages After sausages had been frozen, significant decreases in juiciness and rancidity with increased cooking temperatures also influenced sensory quality index I I iI I I i i i 65 70 75 80 85 12 10 cr -2 q~ CO -4 -6 Fig Sensory quality index for sausages with 4.0% corn starch at varying cooking temperatures after days' storage at 5°C (A A) and after months at - ° C (O O) -8 Cooking temperature ( ° C ) 29 Comparison of starches used in meat sausages TABLE Cooking Loss, Liquid Exudation, Instrumentally Obtained Firmness and Total Quality Index in Sausages Containing Corn Starch Q Cooking temperature (°C) 65 70 75 1.1 0.7 0-6 0.7 1-5 Cold storage Liqu:id exudation (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 2'7 165 - 12'9 3'7 187 - 13"0 2-6 259 5'8 2"5 245 9"0 2-2 265 8'2 4"0 15 Frozen storage Liquid exudation (%) Firmlaess (g) Total quality index 5.7 200 - 13.5 6'9 191 - 14-2 5.2 252 -0.5 4.8 290 3-0 5"2 310 1"5 3.4 13 Cooking loss (%) 80 Ds~ 85 a Sausages were cooked at various temperatures and analyses were taken after days at 5°C or months at -25°C Total quality index (Table 3) also demonstrated the highly pronounced increa,;e in quality o f both cold-stored and frozen-stored sausages at cooking temperatures of 75°C and higher Tapioca starch When tapioca starch was used, cooking loss o f sausages and liquid exudation from sausages during cold storage decreased with increasing cooking temperatures (Table 4) Freezing did not cause changes in the a m o u n t o f liquid exuded in vacuum-packages Firmness of sausages increased significantly when the cooking temperature was raised This was found in both cold-stored and frozen-stored sausages All sensory parameters tested in cold-stored sausages, except typical taste and off-taste, changed significantly with changing cooking temperature After frozen storage, significant changes in all sensory properties except offsmell were found The overall effect was a slight decrease in the sensory quality indexes (Fig 4) N o systematic changes in total quality index with cooking temperature were observed (Table 4) The total quality index was lowest at 80°C Modified potato starch In sau:~ages containing modified p o t a t o starch (acetylated distarch phosphate), high cooking temperatures had a positive effect on cooking losses and the a m o u n t o f liquid exuded from sausages upon storage in G Skrede 30 TABLE Cooking Loss, Liquid Exudation, Instrumentally Obtained Firmness and Total Quality Index in Sausages Containing Tapioca Starch a Cooking temperature (° C) 65 Cooking loss (%) 70 75 Dso/,~ 80 85 1.1 0.8 0.7 0-8 0-2 Cold storage Liquid exudation (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 4.0 204 -2'4 2"3 233 -0.9 1.8 297 -0.6 2.1 254 -2-7 1"2 271 -1.1 0'7 10 Frozen storage Liquid exudation (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 2.9 245 0.4 2.7 312 0.5 3.1 280 -0.2 3.5 351 - 1.1 3.1 336 0"6 1'8 25 Sausages were cooked at various temperatures and analyses were taken after days at 5°C or months at -25°C a vacuum-packages (Table 5) Sausages cooked at 75°C were most firm Both lower and higher cooking temperatures caused less firm sausages Sensory quality indexes of both cold-stored and frozen-stored sausages increased sharply between 65 and 70°C and between 80 and 85°C when modified potato starch was used (Fig 5) The increases were caused by significant changes in all sensory parameters analyzed Total quality indexes of sausages increased as the cooking temperature increased (Table 5) 12 10 Fig Sensory quality index for sausages with 4-0% tapioca starch at varying cooking temperatures after days' storage at 5°C (A A) and after months at - ° C (O O) CO s e e i a 65 70 75 80 85 Cooking temperature ( ° C ) Comparison o f starches used in meat sausages TABLE 31 Cooking Loss, Liquid Exudation, Instrumentally Obtained Firmness and Total Quality Index in Sausages Containing Modified Potato Starch Q Cooking temperature (° C) 65 Ds~ 70 75 3'3 4.4 4'0 1.5 0.5 Cold storage Liquid exudation (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 5"9 118 -15-2 4.2 312 -8"6 3"7 318 -6-9 3"8 303 -3"8 1'6 228 1.3 1,2 15 Frozen storage Liquid exudation (%) Firmness (g) Total quality index 6'6 140 -15"5 3.9 322 -8'1 6'8 414 -10"5 4.3 360 -5'2 3.3 300 1.3 1-9 22 Cooking loss (%) 80 85 Sausages were cooked at various temperatures and analyses were taken after days at 5°C or months at -25°C a Comparing starches The five types of starch investigated were compared in sausages prepared from the same batches of raw materials in a second series of experiments In gener~,l, the sausages of this series of experiments were more firm than the sausages of the first series When sausages were cooked to core temperature , , , ~= to o -2 CO -4 -6 n i a i a 65 70 75 80 85 Cooking temperature ( ° C ) Fig Sensory quality index for sausages with 4'0% modified (acetylated distarch phosphate) potato starch at varying cooking temperatures after days' storage at 5°C (A A) and after months at - ° C (O O) G Skrede 32 TABLE Cooking Loss, Instrumental Firmness, Sensory Properties and Quality Indexes in Sausages Containing Various Types of Starch a Potato Wheat Corn Tapioca Modified Ds~ potato Cooking loss (%) Cold storage, days Firmness (g) Sensory analysis juiciness firmness graininess stickiness sensory quality index Total quality index Cold storage, 19 days Firmness (g) Sensory analysis juiciness firmness graininess stickiness sensory quality index Total quality index a 7"1 423 4"9 5"1 2'5 1'9 13"6 1.4 506 5"3 4'8 2.4 2'0 13-3 0"5 8"1 360 7'8 8'3 9"5 405 369 370 5"0 4.5 2-7 2.2 12.2 -0"1 4.7 4.7 2-8 1.9 11-6 -1.6 5'4 4.5 3-0 2.1 11'2 -3'7 421 482 454 425 5.4 4.4 2'6 2"0 13"2 -0.2 4'8 4.7 3'0 2.4 11"0 -4.2 4.9 4.7 2"6 2.2 12.6 -2"8 5"6 4-6 2.4 1.9 13.7 -2"6 5"5 4.4 3-2 2.2 11.2 0.9 0"9 13 0-9 0"5 0"9 0.4 19 0.6 0'5 0"8 0.4 - Cooking temperature was 72°C and sausages were stored at 5°C of 72°C (Table 6), potato flour caused the most firm sausages followed by corn starch No differences in firmness were found between sausages containing wheat, tapioca or modified potato starch Firmness of sausages increased upon storage at 5°C, but the relative firmness between sausages containing the various starches, was not altered The sensory analysis revealed differences only in consistency, not in taste and smell, of sausages containing the various types of starch when a core temperature of 72°C was applied (Table 6) After days' storage at 5°C, the highest sensory quality index was assigned to sausages formulated with potato flour Lowest sensory quality indexes were assigned to sausages with wheat, tapioca and modified potato starch Upon extended storage, sausages with modified potato starch were rated highest in sensory quality, followed by sausages with potato flour and wheat starch Corn starch caused the lowest sensory quality index of sausages after cold storage when cooked at 72°C When cooking loss and liquid exudation were also included in the quality Comparison of starches used in meat sausages 33 TABLE Cooking Loss, Instrumental Firmness, Sensory Properties and Quality Indexes in Sausages Containing Various Types of Starch a Cooking loss (%) Cold storage, days Firmness (g) Sensory analysis j~Jiciness frmness graininess stickiness s,ensory quality index Total quality index Cold storage, 19 days Firmness (g) Sensory analysis juiciness firmness graininess sl:ickiness sensory quality index Total quality index Potato Wheat 8"3 9"4 329 5'0 5.2 3"2 3-0 8"5 4.5 375 5'2 4.9 3'3 3.0 7.6 4.3 303 5-1 4"9 2.8 2'9 9"0 0"6 344 5"3 4-8 3-1 2'8 7.9 2.7 Corn 10.1 334 Tapioca Modified Ds~ potato 12'5 11.6 319 317 4"9 4"6 3'0 2"9 6.7 - 1-1 5"3 4"6 3'2 3.2 5-9 -0-5 329 334 334 4-9 4'9 3-4 3.4 3"7 -0.3 5"2 4.7 3-1 3" 5-5 -0'1 4-8 4.9 3'3 3"1 7.7 0"9 5'2 4.9 3-0 3"0 6-9 2.0 3.7 16 0"9 0"6 0'9 0"6 - 17 0'5 0"4 1"0 0-5 - a Cooking temperature was 78°C and sausages were stored at 5°C evaluation, sausages with potato flour were judged as having the highest quality after a short period of storage, followed by sausages with wheat, corn, tapioca and modified potato starch (Table 6) After extended storage, potato flour and wheat starch still revealed sausages with the highest total quality indexes Modified potato starch, however, appeared to give sausages with good storage ability, while sausages containing corn starch stored less well Thus, at cooking temperature 72°C, sausages with modified potato starc]a had a higher quality index than sausages with corn starch and tapioca starch after prolonged storage At cooking temperature 78°C, only small differences in firmness were observed in sausages containing the various types of starch (Table 7) All sensory properties except juiciness and stickiness, differed in sausages with different starches shortly after production The variation in sensory properties resulted in the highest sensory quality index for sausages formulated with wheat starch, followed by sausages with potato flour The lowest sensory qualities were assigned to sausages with modified potato 34 G Skrede starch and tapioca starch After storage, sausages with wheat and potato flour were still assigned the highest sensory quality indexes Sausages with modified potato starch stored better than sausages with corn and tapioca starch The poorest storing ability was found for sausages containing corn starch At cooking temperature 78°C, total quality index was highest for the potato flour-containing sausages The lowest total quality index was assigned to sausages containing tapioca starch DISCUSSION Gelatination temperatures given by the producers of the starch investigated were 60-65°C for potato starch, 65-75°C for tapioca starch, 75-80°C for corn starch and 80-85°C for wheat starch These gelatination temperatures refer to dilute aqueous solutions of starches heated under specified conditions and may not accurately indicate the temperatures of gelatination when the starches are used in complex systems like sausages (Hodge & Osman, 1976) Various factors: starch to water ratio, mechanical agitation, speed of heating, salt concentrations and fat content will influence the exact behaviour of the starch granules upon heating (Howling, 1980; French, 1984) Further, the changing of the starch granule structure will continue beyond the temperatures given for gelatination, thereby influencing consistency in the sausages even at higher temperature In the present experiments, the cooking temperatures were chosen to allow all starches investigated to be heated beyond their given gelatination temperature range The results from the experiments to a large extent demonstrated that the gelatination temperatures of the starches were reflected in the characteristics of the starch-containing sausages Sausages with potato flour and with tapioca starch responded very little to variation in cooking temperatures Both starches have passed their gelatination range throughout the entire temperature range of the experiment Sausages with wheat starch were also only to a small extent influenced by varying cooking temperature With the high gelatination temperature of this starch, extensive swelling may not have been obtained even at the highest temperatures Sausages with corn starch greatly improved in quality at cooking temperatures of 75°C and higher At these temperatures, corn starch reaches the gelatination range Sausages with modified potato starch were much more susceptible to changes in cooking temperatures than sausages with potato flour even though the given gelatination temperatures of the two starches were identical The chemical changes of the modified potato starch tested, included both cross-binding by phosphorous groups and masking of hydroxyl groups by Comparison o f starches used in meat sausages 35 acetyl groups These changes strengthen the starch granule and reduce the affinity between the starch molecules thereby inproving freeze/thaw stability of the starch (Wotton & Chaudhry, 1979; Howling, 1980) The present experiment confirmed an improved freeze/thaw stability of the modified potato starch Potato flour, wheat, corn and tapioca starch are all reported to have poor freeze/thaw stability (Howling, 1980) Wheat and corn starch contain a certain amount of fat, which may be responsible for development of undesired taste and flavour In the present experiment no clear effect of this fat content upon rancidity was found Potato flour, in contrast to corn, wheat and tapioca starch, contains covalently bound phosphoric groups (0"06-0.10%P) The phosphoric groups cause relatively high viscosity and thickening power of potato starch compared with the other starches (Swinkels, 1985) In the present invesl:igation, sausages with potato flour gave firm sausages compared with the other starches tested when cooked at 72°C At this temperature only the potato flour and the tapioca starch should actually have gelatinized At the higher cooking temperature of 78°C where also other starches reached gelatination, differences in firmness among sausages containing the various starches were less pronounced The introduction of more phosphoric groups as in the modified potato starch (max 0.14% P), did not enhance firmness of sausages at either cooking temperature Maximum firmness is not necessarily desirable in a meat sausage The firmness and also other characteristics of the sausages will vary with the amount of starch formulated into the sausages Optimalization of the amou:at of starch used would therefore give further interesting information on the potential of the various types of starch as binders and meat extenders in sausages Testing of other types of modified starch may also add to the possibility of utilizing starch in meat products CONCLUSION Among the five types of starch investigated, the potato flour proved to be well suited for use in sausages This was found both just after processing of sausa~:es and after storage in a cold room or at freezing temperatures OveraLl sausage quality was not significantly dependent upon cooking temperatures between 65 and 85°C Freezing stability was best at the higher cooking temperatures Wheat starch was also suited for use in sausages High cooking temperatu:res caused the best freeze/thaw stability When corn starch was used, cooking temperatures should be at least 75°C At this temperature, quality of fresh sausages was comparable with that of 36 G Skrede the wheat-containing sausages The corn starch caused low freezing stability compared with the other starches With the modified potato starch tested, an acetylated distarch phosphate, sausages increased in quality all through the temperature range investigated At the higher cooking temperatures, sausages with modified starch stored well during freezing The tapioca starch appeared to be best suited for use in sausages at the low cooking temperatures Compared with the other starches, tapioca must be regarded as the least suited type of starch even if sausages cooked at the low temperatures were found to have good freeze/thaw stability ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author thanks B S~ether for processing the sausages and G Enersen, M K Haarstad and M Ringstad for performing the instrumental analysis Special thanks are due to L Blfimlein for administration of the sensory analysis REFERENCES Andersson, L & Hansson, K E (1979) Proc 25th Congress of Europ Meat Workers, Budapest, p 333 Baldwin, R E., Moody, D., Cloninger, M & Korschgen, B (1972) J Am Dietetic Ass., 60(3), 218 French, D (1984) In Starch: Chemistry and Technology ed R L Whistler, J N Bemiller & E F Paschall, Academic Press, Orlando, p 183 Hodge, J E & Osman, E M (1976) In Principles in Food Science ed O R Fennema, Marcel Dekker, New York, p 41 Howling, D (1980) Food Chem., 6, 51 Scheffr, H (1959) In The Analysis of Variance, John Wiley & Sons, New York, p 73 Skrede, G (1983) Food Chem., 11, 175 Swinkels, J J M (1985) Starch, 37(I), I WHO (1982) 26th Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives Worm Health Organization Technical Report Series, 683, 29 Wotton, M & Chaudhry, M A (1979) Starch, 31(7), 224 ... amount of starch formulated into the sausages Optimalization of the amou:at of starch used would therefore give further interesting information on the potential of the various types of starch as binders... binders and meat extenders in sausages Testing of other types of modified starch may also add to the possibility of utilizing starch in meat products CONCLUSION Among the five types of starch investigated,... are interesting for use in meat products The present investigation was undertaken to compare various types of starch which may be used in meat products The starches were formulated into meat sausages