“Clean label” has become the normality in the food industry. Many consumers have become increasingly concerned with the added ingredients in their food products and the meat industry is not exempt from these concerns. Consequently, processed meat products could benefit from the elimination of synthetic non-meat additives. Citrus fiber has the potential to serve as a natural alternative to sodium tripolyphosphate in processed meat and minimize changes in sensory characteristics associated with an acceptable product. The objective of this study was to evaluate the functionality of citrus fiber as a natural alternative to sodium tripolyphosphate in an uncured all-pork bologna and an oven-roasted turkey breast.

Five bologna treatments were produced using the following sodium tripolyphosphate replacement formulations: 1) sodium tripolyphosphate control (STPP), 2) no sodium tripolyphosphate control (No STPP), 3) 0.50% citrus fiber (0.50% CF), 4) 0.75% citrus fiber (0.75% CF), and 1.00% citrus fiber (1.00% CF). The treatments all maintained acceptable quality throughout a 98-day shelf life. Citrus fiber treatments resulted in bologna with acceptable technological parameters, as indicated by similar cook/chill yields and emulsion stability compared with the STPP control. Lipid oxidation across all treatments was maintained for the entirety of the 98-day shelf life period. There were slight differences among sensory evaluation scores for texture and moistness, with the citrus fiber treatments perceived as being softer and less moist; however, these contradicted the TPA measurement data showing the citrus fiber treatments as harder than the sodium tripolyphosphate control. The citrus fiber treatments were harder, less resilient, less cohesive, and less springy compared to the sodium tripolyphosphate control. Sensory evaluation of color showed no difference in lightness throughout the 98-day shelf life. While there were instrumental color differences, they were slight and did not result in a product that was visually different or unappealing compared to the sodium tripolyphosphate control.

Four oven-roasted turkey treatments were produced using the following: 1) sodium tripolyphosphate control (STPP), 2) no sodium tripolyphosphate control (No STPP), 3) 0.25% citrus fiber (0.25% CF), and 4) 0.50% citrus fiber (0.50% CF). The treatments all maintained acceptable quality throughout an 84-day shelf life. Citrus fiber treatments resulted in turkey with acceptable technological parameters, as indicated by similar cook/chill yields compared to the STPP control. Lipid oxidation across all treatments was maintained for the entirety of the 84-day shelf life period. There were slight differences among sensory evaluation scores for moistness, with the citrus fiber treatments perceived as being less moist. Sensory evaluation of color showed no difference of lightness throughout the 84-day shelf life. While there were instrumental color differences, they were slight and did not result in a product that was visually different or unappealing compared to the sodium tripolyphosphate control. In conclusion, citrus fiber has the potential to produce an uncured all-pork bologna and oven-roasted turkey breast with similar technological attributes, texture characteristics, color values, lipid oxidation, and sensory properties as those made with sodium tripolyphosphate.