Innovative Applications of Salted Duck Egg By-Product (Liquid Albumen): Evaluating Substitutions in Pickled Pork Casings for Chinese Sausage Manufacturing

This study utilized the high salt concentrations of liquid albumen (LA), a by-product of salted duck eggs, to enhance the traditional pickling process for hog casings (HCs) and investigated the feasibility of replacing salt brine with LA at varying concentrations and pickling periods. In addition, physicochemical properties, textural profile analysis (TPA), aroma analysis, and sensory evaluation were performed on sausages post-production to assess the recycling value of LA. This study revealed no significant differences among the groups compared to the control for proximate composition, apparent color, and aroma component profiles of the sausages. However, HC pickled in 50% LA for 7 days exhibited excellent sausage hardness, cohesiveness, and elasticity performance. It also achieved the highest scores for mouthfeel, aroma, and overall preference, indicating that this is a suitable concentration for brine substitution. According to the findings of this study, the application of LA as a substitute for traditional brine in pickling HCs has potential for improving the texture and sensory properties of sausage products. This can contribute to the accomplishment of a circular bioeconomy. One limitation of this study was that the HC pickling conditions (concentration and duration) required deeper optimization to facilitate subsequent large-scale production and application.