*Article* **Application of** *Auricularia cornea* **as a Pork Fat Replacement in Cooked Sausage**

**Yuan Fu 1,2, Long Zhang 2, Mengdi Cong 2, Kang Wan 2, Guochuan Jiang 2, Siqi Dai 2, Liyan Wang 1,2,\* and Xuejun Liu 2,\***


Changchun 130118, China; 20200704@mails.jlau.edu.cn (L.Z.); congmengdi@mails.jlau.edu.cn (M.C.); wankang@jlau.edu.cn (K.W.); jiangguochuan@jlau.edu.cn (G.J.); daisiqi1232021@163.com (S.D.) **\*** Correspondence: wangliyan@jlau.edu.cn (L.W.); liuxuejun@jlau.edu.cn (X.L.);

Tel.: +86-158-4301-5766 (L.W.); +86-153-0446-0733 (X.L.)

**Abstract:** The effect of *Auricularia cornea* (AC) as an alternative for pork fat on the physico-chemical properties and sensory characteristics of cooked sausage were evaluated. The results indicated that replacement of pork fat with AC led to a significant increase in the protein, ash, moisture, cooking loss, water holding capacity, springiness, and chewiness, especially isoleucine, leucine, proline, palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic, and arachidonic acids of the sausages. In contrast, AC reduced the level of fat (12.61%–87.56%) and energy (5.76%–56.40%) of the sausages. In addition, AC led to the mild lightness, yellowness, whiteness, and soft texture, while it did not affect the water activity of the sausages. From the sensory point of view, all sausages were judged acceptable, and the substitution of 75% of pork fat by AC exhibited best sensory characteristics. In a word, AC is a promising food to partially replace the pork fat in sausages.

**Keywords:** mushroom; fat replacement; meat product
