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

Volume 26 (2026): Issue 3 (August 2026)

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

Open Access

|Sep 2026

Figures & Tables

Table 1.

Composition of the experimental sausages

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.

Physico-chemical parameters of experimental sausages

C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
pH	0	6.39±0.01 Aa	6.33±0.06 Bab	6.46±0.02 Ca	0.0007	<0.0001	<0.0001
pH	15	6.34±0.01 Ab	6.30±0.01 Bb	6.36±0.01 Ab	0.0007	<0.0001	<0.0001
30	6.37±0.02 Aab	6.36±0.01 Aa	6.18±0.02 Bc
a_w value	0	0.972±0.002 Aa	0.970±0.003 Ba	0.968±0.001 Ba	0.0004	0.0006	0.0002
a_w value	15	0.967±0.001 Ab	0.969±0.001 Ba	0.969±0.001 ABa	0.0004	0.0006	0.0002
30	0.969±0.001 ABb	0.970±0.001 Aa	0.967±0.001 Ba

[i] A–C – different letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05). a–c – different letters in the same column indicate a significant difference within the same group during the storage (P<0.05). St × Sp – Sausage type × Storage period interaction.

Table 3.

Chemical composition of experimental sausages immediately after production

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

[i] A–C – different letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05).

Table 4.

Lipolytic and oxidative changes in experimental sausages

C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
Acid value (mg KOH/g)	0	5.60±0.46 Aa	5.78±0.18 Aa	5.01±0.08 Ba	0.0031	<0.0001	<0.0001
Acid value (mg KOH/g)	15	4.93±0.10 Ab	6.09±0.30 Ba	5.16±0.11 Aa	0.0031	<0.0001	<0.0001
30	6.19±0.44 Ac	6.04±0.48 Aa	5.96±0.27 Ab
Peroxide value (mmol O₂/kg)	0	0.48±0.01 Aa	0.22±0.01 Ba	0.45±0.01 Aa	0.0039	<0.0001	<0.0001
Peroxide value (mmol O₂/kg)	15	0.78±0.09 Ab	0.77±0.09 Ab	0.67±0.03 Ab	0.0039	<0.0001	<0.0001
30	1.07±0.20 Ac	0.91±0.09 Bc	0.77±0.02 Cb
TBARS value (mg MDA/kg)	0	0.03±0.01 Aa	0.06±0.01 Ba	0.07±0.01 Ba	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
TBARS value (mg MDA/kg)	15	0.03±0.01 Aa	0.04±0.01 Ab	0.07±0.01 Ba	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
30	0.14±0.01 Ab	0.03±0.01 Bb	0.13±0.01 Ab

[i] A–C – different letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05). a–c – different letters in the same column indicate a significant difference within the same group during storage (P<0.05). St × Sp – Sausage type × Storage period interaction.

Table 5.

Changes in antioxidant parameters during storage of experimental sausages

C	NAX	AX	Sausage type	Storage period	St × Sp
DPPH (mmol TE/100 g)	0	0.25±0.02 Aa	0.22±0.01 Ba	0.24±0.01 ABa	0.0673	<0.0001	<0.0001
DPPH (mmol TE/100 g)	15	0.26±0.01 Aa	0.22±0.01 Ba	0.24±0.01 Aa	0.0673	<0.0001	<0.0001
30	0.17±0.03 Ab	0.19±0.01 Bb	0.17±0.01 Ab
ABTS (mmol TE/100 g)	0	0.78±0.02 Aa	0.80±0.03 Aa	0.80±0.02 Aa	0.0031	<0.0001	0.0028
ABTS (mmol TE/100 g)	15	0.90±0.03 Ab	0.94±0.03 ABb	0.94±0.03 Bb	0.0031	<0.0001	0.0028
30	0.69±0.05 Ac	0.78±0.03 Ba	0.76±0.03 Bc

[i] A–C – different letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05). a–c – different letters in the same column indicate a significant difference between values within the same group during storage (P<0.05). St × Sp – Sausage type × 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

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

[i] A–C – different letters in the same row indicate a significant difference between groups (P<0.05). a–c – different letters in the same column indicate a significant difference between values within the same group during storage (P<0.05). St × Sp – Sausage type × Storage period interaction.

Sensory properties of the experimental sausages

Articles in this issue

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

Page range: 1071 - 1081

Submitted on: Feb 12, 2025

Accepted on: Sep 9, 2025

Published on: Sep 26, 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 4.0 License.

Volume 26 (2026): Issue 3 (August 2026)

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.

Paradigm

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