Wolyna Pindi*1, Ong Wea Siang1, Elisha Munsu1, Hana Mohd Zaini1, Nurul Shaeera Sulaiman1, Patricia Matanjun1, Noorakmar Ab. Wahab1 and Sylvester Matihal1
1Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Kappaphycus alvarezii is one of the largest tropical red macroalgae with significant fibre, carbohydrate, and mineral content. This study investigates the effect of replacing fat with seaweed gel Kappaphycus alvarezii (KA) on the physicochemical, nutritional, and sensory properties of chicken patties. The chicken patties are formulated as control sample F0 (0% KA gel + 10% fat), F1 (2.5% KA gel + 7.5% fat), F2 (5% KA gel + 5% fat), and F3 (7.5% KA gel + 2.5% fat). Proximate analysis showed the moisture, ash, and dietary fibre content increased significantly (p<0.05). In contrast, increasing the level of KA gel as a fat replacer considerably lowered the fat content (p<0.05). The inclusion of KA gel had no effect on the protein content (p>0.05). Next, the hardness of the KA gel treated patties decreased significantly (p<0.05), while there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in other texture parameters. Moreover, the chicken patties with KA gel seaweed have a lower expressible water and cooking loss (p<0.05) compared to the control sample (F0). The L* values (lightness) showed a decrement (p<0.05) along with a* and b* values (p<0.05). Chicken patties with KA gel reduced water activity significantly (p<0.05). The sensory evaluation reveals that F1 (2.5% KA gel + 7.5% fat) has the highest acceptance by sensory panellists (p<0.05) compared to other formulations. In conclusion, seaweed KA gel has the potential to function as a fat substitute in the production of reduced-fat chicken patties.