CHARACTERISTICS OF LOW-FAT BEEFBURGER AS INFLUENCED BY VARIOUS TYPES OF WHEAT FIBERS

Hydrated wheat fibers (bran and white and red beeswings) were added at three levels (5, 10 and 15%) to beefburger instead of fat and evaluat ed for chemical, physical, caloric values and sensory traits. Uncooked and cooked beefburgers formulated with wheat fibers were higher (p le ss than or equal to 0.05) in moisture, protein and carbohydrate and lo wer (p less than or equal to 0.05) in fat than that of control. Howeve r, ash content was not increased (p>0.05) by the addition of wheat fib ers. The cholesterol content of uncooked and cooked beefburgers decrea sed as level of wheat fibers increased or fat content decreased. The a ddition of wheat fibers reduced the cholesterol content by about 6-45% for uncooked and cooked beefburgers. The caloric values of uncooked a nd cooked beefburgers were lower (p less than or equal to 0.05) than t hat of control by about 6-42%. The cooking yield and reduction in diam eter of beefburgers were significantly (p less than or equal to 0.05) improved by the addition of wheat fibers. The addition of red and whit e beeswings showed an improvement in the texture trait. Colour traits, tenderness, juiciness, connective tissue amount, beef favour intensit y and overall palatability were not affected by the addition of wheat fibers to beefburgers. Hydrated wheat fibers can be used successfully as a fat substitute in ground meat products. (C) 1997 Canadian Institu te of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.