Effect of Monascus fermentation on color and proteolysis of Cantonese sausage

The effects of GIM3.439 Monascus fermentation on the Cantonese sausage was determined during fermentation conditions by comparing the color, p H, amino acidic nitrogen and sensory quality. The SDS-polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis ( SDS-PAGE) and high performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC) were used to study the changes of protein, peptide and free amino acid ( FAA) during fermentation in Cantonese sausage.The results showed that the color of the fermented sausages is much redder than the control group. The content of amino acidic nitrogen of fermented sausages increased to 0.14%. SDS-PAGE pattern of water-soluble proteins and salt-soluble proteins throughout the fermenting in two groups indicated that fermentation of Monascus can promote the degradation of water-soluble and salt-soluble macromolecule proteins, and increase the total amount of small peptide and free amino acid in the product.The total amount of free amino acids increased from 580 mg/100 g to 930 mg/100 g.Monascus fermentation not only makes the product more attractive color, but also enriched the free amino acid content of sausage, and improve the sensory quality and nutritional value of sausage.