Yacon as a food ingredient in meat products : A comparison between Soluble and Insoluble Fraction of Yacon

Sammanfattning: The potential of yacon roots as a food ingredient was evaluated to determine its application in the food industry, especially in the meat industry. The understanding of yacon and its interactions with the sarcoplasmic andmyofibrillar proteins of meat was the key part of this study.The initial part of the work was focused on the properties of the yacon roots on drying as a way to preserve yacon roots which usually have a short shelf life. Using convection drying the original properties of yacon were best reconstituted after drying at 55°C and 2m/s or 60°C and 4m/s.The continuation of, the work was focused on the interactions of different yacon components with meat sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins. The soluble part of yacon combined with sarcoplasmic proteins formed aggregates, where these aggregates helped to spread the proteins at the oil interface, thereby improving the emulsifying properties of the sarcoplasmic proteins.The interaction of myofibrillar proteins and other ingredients such as yacon, carrot, parsnip, oil, meat pieces and potato starch on gel formation was studied. The gels improved using the insoluble part of yacon while they became weaker using the yacon soluble fraction. Oil did not disturb the myofibrillar gel formation, whereas carrot and parsnip did and meat pieces and potato starch improved the gels substantially.Ultimately, a sausage enhanced with dietary fibre of yacon was produced and the quality of the product was good. The results of this PhD work can provide a template for the production of different types of meat products enhanced with dietary fibre of yacon.