3.3.2. Color

Color is important due to the impact it has on consumers' willingness to purchase meat products, with most finding bright red products more appealing. Instrumental color parameter (L\*, a\* and b\*) values of longanizas were affected by the formulation and culinary procedure applied (Table 2). Regarding formulation, both raw and cooked sausages prepared with EG, regardless of whether they contained chia or oat, exhibited higher (*p* < 0.05) b\* values. This could be related to the characteristic color of the olive oil used to make the EGs [16,17] which gave them a yellowish green hue due to pigments (mainly chlorophylls and carotenoids). Color likewise depends on the variety and ripeness of the fruit. Oat EGs did not have an impact on the typical red color of products of this sort because their a\* values (for both raw and cooked) were significantly similar to those observed in samples made with animal fat (Table 2). However, both raw and cooked longanizas formulated with chia EGs (C-RF) had the lowest a\* values which could be attributable to chia's dark color [8]. No significantly clear formulation-related differences were found for lightness (L\*) (Table 2).

Lightness increased in all samples as a result of thermal treatment and redness decreased (*p* < 0.05) in all cases except for C-RF (Table 2). Parameter b\* responded in two different ways: all-animal fat samples exhibited lower values after cooking, while the values of those prepared with EGs remained the same (Table 2).
