The objective of this study was to develop a novel chitosan-based casing for commercial application. In order to do so, chitosan was mixed with cinnamaldehyde, glycerol and Tween 80 in various ratios, and the resulting films were compared to commercial collagen casings for physical and mechanical properties. The chitosan film exhibited different properties due to the interactions between chitosan, glycerol and cinnamaldehyde as identified by FTIR spectrophotometry. Among the different chitosan films, the film containing cinnamaldehyde (2.2%, w/v), glycerol (50%, w/w) and Tween 80 (0.2% w/w) shown the same mechanical properties as the collagen casing, with lower water solubility, superior transparency, and better UV light barrier property. As a next step, the selected film was made into a round shape, stuffed with meat batter and compared to meat-stuffed collagen casings for commercial feasibility of the novel casings under traditional sausage manufacturing conditions. Before and after meat stuffing and cooking, both chitosan or collagen (control) casings were compared for mechanical, barrier and physical properties. The results show that, chitosan casing showed better performance as a barrier to water, oxygen, liquid smoke and UV light compared to the collagen casing. In mechanical and physical properties, chitosan casing had higher tensile strength but lower elongation and tensile energy to break, had better transparency and similar water solubility as the collagen casing. These results show the potential of the chitosan casing as an alternative or better choice than the collagen casing for the manufacture of sausages.
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