Relationship of Water Content to Textural Characteristics, Water Activity, and Thermal Conductivity of Some Commercial Sausages

Mechanical properties from cyclic low strain testing, texture profile parameters and thermal conductivity were evaluated for 7 types of commercial sausage products ranging in moisture content from 27.7% to 62.4% and a_w from 0.857 to 0.993. Hardness, fracturability, the apparent moduli, stress al 20% compression, mechanical hysteresis loss, and strain energy all increased with decreasing moisture level, while springiness and the degree of elasticity decreased. Moisture had no significant effect on cohesiveness. A linear relationship was observed between the a_w and the effective mole fraction of water in the brine, the exact nature of which depended on the thermal process which the product had received. Thermal conductivity decreased with decreasing moisture in a linear manner.