Influence of Astaxanthin on the Quality and Shelf Life of Frankfurter-Type Sausages with Reduced Nitrite Content

Srećko Bošnjak; Dragan Vasilev; Silvana Stajković; Branislav Vejnović; Nemanja Miletić; Nikola Čobanović; Nevena Grković; Đorđe Pajičić; Branko Suvajdžić

doi:10.2478/aoas-2025-0103

Influence of Astaxanthin on the Quality and Shelf Life of Frankfurter-Type Sausages with Reduced Nitrite Content

By: Srećko Bošnjak, Dragan Vasilev, Silvana Stajković, Branislav Vejnović, Nemanja Miletić, Nikola Čobanović, Nevena Grković, Đorđe Pajičić and Branko Suvajdžić

Open Access

|Feb 2026

Figures & Tables

Table 1.

Composition of the experimental sausages

Filling ingredients	Experimental sausages
Filling ingredients	C	NAX	AX
Pork I category (%)	50	50	50
Back fat (%)	30	30	30
Ice (%)	20	20	20
Spices and phosphate mix (%)	1	1	1
Sodium chloride (%)	1.8	1.8	1.8
Sodium nitrite (mg/kg)	50	50	/
Astaxanthin (mg/kg)	/	200	200

* The amounts of added spices and phosphate mix, sodium chloride, sodium nitrite, and astaxanthin were calculated based on the total filling weight.

The flow diagram for the production of frankfurter-type sausages

Table 2.

Physicochemical parameters of experimental sausages

Parameter	Day	Experimental sausages			P value
Parameter	Day	C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
pH	0	6.39±0.01^{A, a}	6.33±0.06^{B, ab}	6.46±0.02^{C, a}	0.0007	<0.0001	<0.0001
	15	6.34±0.01^{A, b}	6.30±0.01^{B, b}	6.36±0.01^{A, b}
	30	6.37±0.02^{A, ab}	6.36±0.01^{A, a}	6.18±0.02^{B, c}
a_w value	0	0.972±0.002^{A, a}	0.970±0.003^{B, a}	0.968±0.001^{B, a}	0.0004	0.0006	0.0002
	15	0.967±0.001^{A, b}	0.969±0.001^{B, a}	0.969±0.001^{AB, a}
	30	0.969±0.001^{AB, b}	0.970±0.001^{A, a}	0.967±0.001^{B, a}

A–C Different uppercase superscript letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05).

a–c Different lowercase superscript letters in the same column indicate a significant difference within the same group during the storage (P<0.05).

St × Sp - Sausage type x Storage period interaction.

Table 3.

Chemical composition of experimental sausages immediately after production

Parameter	Experimental sausages
Parameter	C	NAX	AX	P value
Moisture (%)	57.46±0.76^A	55.46±0.74^B	55.68±0.84^B	0.0004
Protein (%)	13.10±0.16^A	12.40±0.32^B	12.10±0.04^B	<0.0001
Fat (%)	23.52±1.14^A	24.05±0.87^A	23.78±1.13^A	0.7857
Ash (%)	2.88±0.03^A	2.85±0.03^AB	2.80±0.03^B	0.0146
NaCl (%)	1.84±0.06^A	1.92±0.12^AB	2.08±0.05^B	0.0107
Nitrites (mg/kg)	24.85±0.98^A	25.68±0.81^A	0.03±0.01^B	<0.0001

A–C Different uppercase superscript letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05).

Table 4.

Lipolytic and oxidative changes in experimental sausages

Parameter	Day	Experimental sausages			P value
Parameter	Day	C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
Acid value (mg KOH/g)	0	5.60±0.46^{A, a}	5.78±0.18^{A, a}	5.01±0.08^{B, a}	0.0031	<0.0001	<0.0001
	15	4.93±0.10^{A, b}	6.09±0.30^{B, a}	5.16±0.11^{A, a}
	30	6.19±0.44^{A, c}	6.04±0.48^{A, a}	5.96±0.27^{A, b}
Peroxide value (mmol O₂/kg)	0	0.48±0.01^{A, a}	0.22±0.01^{B, a}	0.45±0.01^{A, a}	0.0039	<0.0001	<0.0001
	15	0.78±0.09^{A, b}	0.77±0.09^{A, b}	0.67±0.03^{A, b}
	30	1.07±0.20^{A, c}	0.91±0.09^{B, c}	0.77±0.02^{C, b}
TBARS value (mg MDA/kg)	0	0.03±0.01^{A, a}	0.06±0.01^{B, a}	0.07±0.01^{B, a}	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
	15	0.03±0.01^{A, a}	0.04±0.01^{A, b}	0.07±0.01^{B, a}
	30	0.14±0.01^{A, b}	0.03±0.01^{B, b}	0.13±0.01^{A, b}

A–C Different uppercase superscript letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05).

a–c Different lowercase superscript letters in the same column indicate a significant difference within the same group during storage (P<0.05).

St × Sp - Sausage Type x Storage period interaction.

Table 5.

Changes in antioxidant parameters during storage of experimental sausages

Parameter	Day	Experimental sausages			P value
Parameter	Day	C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
DPPH (mmol TE/100 g)	0	0.25±0.02^{A, a}	0.22±0.01^{B, a}	0.24±0.01^{AB, a}	0.0673	<0.0001	<0.0001
	15	0.26±0.01^{A, a}	0.22±0.01^{B, a}	0.24±0.01^{A, a}
	30	0.17±0.03^{A, b}	0.19±0.01^{B, b}	0.17±0.01^{A, b}
ABTS (mmol TE/100 g)	0	0.78±0.02^{A, a}	0.80±0.03^{A, a}	0.80±0.02^{A, a}	0.0031	<0.0001	0.0028
	15	0.90±0.03^{A, b}	0.94±0.03^{AB, b}	0.94±0.03^{B, b}
	30	0.69±0.05^{A, c}	0.78±0.03^{B, a}	0.76±0.03^{B, c}

A–C Different uppercase superscript letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05).

a–c Different lowercase superscript letters in the same column indicate a significant difference between values within the same group during storage (P<0.05).

St × Sp - Sausage type x Storage period interaction.

Changes in the TVC (A) and the LAB count (B) during the storage of the experimental sausages

Table 6.

Color parameters of experimental sausages during storage

Parameter	Day	Experimental sausages			P value
Parameter	Day	C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
L*	0	75.31±0.83^{A, a}	47.39±0.69^{B, a}	47.40±0.98^{B, a}	<0.0001	0.0373	0.9152
	15	75.66±1.09^{A, a}	47.96±0.53^{B, a}	48.03±0.70^{B, a}
	30	75.98±0.41^{A, a}	48.07±0.59^{B, a}	47.81±0.45^{B, a}
a*	0	6.42±0.20^{A, a}	33.85±0.89^{B, a}	32.56±0.88^{C, a}	<0.0001	0.8538	0.3961
	15	6.45±0.22^{A, a}	33.64±0.79^{B, a}	32.93±1.00^{B, a}
	30	6.15±0.32^{A, a}	33.73±0.36^{B, a}	32.91±0.45^{B, a}
b*	0	6.88±0.32^{A, a}	30.61±2.05^{B, a}	32.01±1.18^{B, a}	<0.0001	0.0060	0.6519
	15	7.29±0.25^{A, a}	32.19±1.96^{B, b}	32.84±1.36^{B, a}
	30	7.60±0.30^{A, a}	32.18±0.60^{B, b}	32.82±0.93^{B, a}
C (Chroma)*	0	9.41±0.32^{A, a}	45.65±2.02^{B, a}	45.66±1.42^{B, a}	<0.0001	0.0560	0.9258
	15	9.74±0.17^{A, a}	46.57±1.91^{B, a}	46.51±1.63^{B, a}
	30	9.78±0.40^{A, a}	46.61±0.61^{B, a}	46.47±0.97^{B, a}
H (Hue angle)*	0	46.97±1.15^{A, a}	42.08±1.21^{B, a}	44.51±0.43^{C, a}	<0.0001	<0.0001	0.0003
	15	48.49±1.67^{A, b}	43.70±1.15^{B, b}	44.91±0.55^{B, a}
	30	51.06±0.99^{A, c}	43.65±0.43^{B, b}	44.92±0.45^{B, a}

A–C Different uppercase superscript letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05).

a–c Different lowercase superscript letters in the same column indicate a significant difference between values within the same group during storage (P<0.05).

St × Sp- Sausage type x Storage period interaction.

Supplementary Table 1.

Sensory properties of the experimental sausages

Parameter	Day	Experimental sausages			P value
Parameter	Day	C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
External appearance	0	5.00±0.00^{A, a}	5.00±0.00 ^{A, a}	5.00±0.00 ^{A, a}	0.8330	<0.0001	0.6650
	15	4.43±0.35 ^{A, bc}	4.43±0.19 ^{A, bc}	4.43±0.19 ^{A, bc}
	30	4.43±0.35 ^{A, c}	4.29±0.27 ^{A, c}	4.43±0.19 ^{A, c}
Cross-section appearance	0	4.79±0.27^{A, a}	4.79±0.27 ^{A, a}	4.71±0.27 ^{A, a}	0.9772	0.0411	0.9678
	15	4.71±0.27 ^{A, a}	4.79±0.39 ^{A, a}	4.79±039 ^{A, a}
	30	4.57±0.35 ^{A, a}	4.57±0.35 ^{A, a}	4.57±0.35 ^{A, a}
Color	0	4.57±0.35 ^{A, a}	4.64±0.38 ^{A, a}	4.57±0.45 ^{A, a}	0.8792	0.7574	0.9818
	15	4.57±0.19 ^{A, a}	4.71±0.27 ^{A, a}	4.64±0.38 ^{A, a}
	30	4.57±0.35 ^{A, a}	4.57±0.45 ^{A, a}	4.57±0.45 ^{A, a}
Odor and taste	0	4.93±0.19 ^{A, a}	4.86±0.24 ^{A, a}	4.86±0.24 ^{A, a}	0.5653	<0.0001	0.1631
	15	4.86±0.24 ^{A, a}	4.50±0.00 ^{A, b}	4.57±0.18 ^{A, b}
	30	4.29±0.27 ^{A, b}	4.36±0.24 ^{A, b}	4.57±0.18 ^{A, b}
Texture	0	4.86±0.24 ^{A, a}	4.79±0.27 ^{A, a}	4.79±0.27 ^{A, a}	0.0019	<0.0001	0.0008
	15	4.86±0.24 ^{A, a}	4.21±0.27 ^{B, b}	4.86±0.24 ^{A, a}
	30	4.50±0.29 ^{A, b}	4.14±0.24 ^{B, b}	4.71±0.27 ^{A, a}
Total sensory score	0	4.83±0.16 ^{A, a}	4.81±0.20 ^{A, a}	4.78±0.21 ^{A, a}	0.5893	<0.0001	0.4434
	15	4.75±0.08 ^{A, a}	4.59±0.27 ^{A, ab}	4.65±0.31 ^{A, a}
	30	4.46±0.21 ^{A, b}	4.39±0.23 ^{A, b}	4.58±0.28 ^{A, a}

A–C Different uppercase superscript letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05).

a–c Different lowercase superscript letters in the same column indicate a significant difference within the same group during the storage (P<0.05).

St × Sp - Sausage type x Storage period interaction.

References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2025-0103 | Journal eISSN: 2300-8733 (formerly 1642-3402) | Journal ISSN: 1642-3402

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Language: English

Submitted on: Feb 12, 2025

Accepted on: Sep 9, 2025

Published on: Feb 16, 2026

Published by: National Research Institute of Animal Production

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

Keywords:

antioxidant,

astaxanthin,

frankfurter,

reduced nitrite content

Related subjects:

Medicine,

Veterinary medicine

© 2026 Srećko Bošnjak, Dragan Vasilev, Silvana Stajković, Branislav Vejnović, Nemanja Miletić, Nikola Čobanović, Nevena Grković, Đorđe Pajičić, Branko Suvajdžić, published by National Research Institute of Animal Production
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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Influence of Astaxanthin on the Quality and Shelf Life of Frankfurter-Type Sausages with Reduced Nitrite Content

Figures & Tables

Table 1.

Figure 1.

Table 2.

Table 3.

Table 4.

Table 5.

Figure 2.

Table 6.

Figure 3.

Supplementary Table 1.

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