Evaluation of the storage quality characteristics of ‘Tteokbokki’sauce in the presence of preservatives and following heat sterilization

When ‘Tteokbokki’ sauce is distributed and stored in the summer, the number of microbial generations increases rapidly, and the sauce packaging swells or breaks due to gas generation. In this study, the use of preservatives and heat sterilization was examined to determine their effects on red pepper paste-based ‘Tteokbokki’ sauce. When preservative addition and heat sterilization were combined, CO₂ gas generation was increased, while the use of either preservatives alone or heat sterilization alone reduced gas generation compared to the control. Microbial load was significantly lower in the combined sample, and heat sterilization treatment was found to exhibit only a slight sterilization effect. However, no bactericidal effect was observed only in the presence of preservatives. Similar sensory evaluation results were obtained for all treated samples. These results therefore indicated that the sterilization effect of heat sterilization in ‘Tteokbokki’ sauce was maximized when combined with preservatives, with no significant alteration in the quality characteristics being detected. However, in the case of the combined treatment, a heat stable preservative should be used to prevent the generation of carbon dioxide gas.