This study investigated the effect of the addition of various levels of pig head meat (HM) as a substitute for rear leg meat (RLM) on the physico-chemical quality characteristics of non-emulsified, smoked, and cooked sausage during refrigerated storage. Sausages were prepared in four variations according to the proportion (0%, 10%, 20%, or 30%) of HM added and maintained at 4°C. Quality measurements were taken for 28 days. The sausages added with the addition of 20% and 30% HM had significantly (p<0.05) higher moisture and lower protein content compared to those without the addition of HM. The pH value during the storage period was higher (p<0.05) in the sausages to which the HM had been added than in those without HM. The sausages with 30% HM showed the lowest (p<0.05) L* and b* values and the highest (p<0.05) a* value during the storage period. The 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content, hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess, and chewiness of the sausages showed no significant variations with the addition of various levels of HM. These data suggest that RLM could be substituted with 30% HM because it does not negatively affect the quality of the non-emulsified sausage. However, a further study on sausages made with 100% HM instead of RLM may be needed to improve its utilization.

In this study, the physical and sensorial properties of the meat analog were studied for the purpose of improving sensory preference and mimicking animal meat. The meat analog was made with different types of liquid materials such as oil, water, lecithin, polysorbate 80, or the emulsion of these components. At the aspect of density, the sample mixed with oil was higher than the sample mixed with water. Cooking loss value was higher at the sample with water than the sample with oil and this was the result opposite to the liquid holding capacity analysis. Also, texture profile analysis result showed that the samples with medium chain triglycerides (MCT) oil only showed the highest values in all attributes except for adhesiveness. Principal component analysis was carried out to analyze sensorial properties and it showed that the overall acceptance was high when the juiciness and softness increased. This result was highly related with the addition of emulsion. Therefore, emulsion technology can be a good candidate for improving the quality of meat analog and for mimicking the taste of animal meat.