Influence of Heat Treatment on the Chemical, Physical, Microbiological and Sensorial Properties of Pork Liver Pâté as Affected by Fat Content

The novelty of this study is the investigation of the effect of different heat treatments and, simultaneously, the effect of different fat levels on the quality of pork liver pâtés. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of heat treatment and fat content on selected properties of pork liver pâté. For this purpose, four batches of pâtés with two different fat contents (30 and 40% (w/w)) and two different heat treatments (pasteurisation: target temperature 70 °C, holding time of 10 min; sterilisation: target temperature 122 °C, holding time of 10 min) were manufactured. Chemical (pH, dry matter, crude protein, total lipid, ammonia, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)), microbiological, colour, textural, rheological, and sensory analyses were performed. Both different heat treatment and fat content affected most of the parameters observed. Sterilisation ensured the commercial sterility of the manufactured pâtés, resulting in elevated TBARS values, hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and springiness, and increased rheological parameters (G′, G″, G*, and η*), as well as colour changes (decrease in L* and increase in a*, b*, and C* values) and deterioration of appearance, consistency, and flavour also being detected (p < 0.05). Higher fat content caused similar variations in the textural and viscoelastic properties, i.e., the increase in hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and springiness, and also in G′, G″, G*, and η* (p < 0.05). However, the colour and sensorial parameters changed in different ways compared to the changes induced by the sterilisation effect. Overall, the observed changes might not be desirable for some consumers and further research would be appropriate to improve especially the sensorial attributes of sterilised pork liver pâtés.