Abstract:Pears and mutton leg were used as the primary ingredients to prepare pear mutton meatballs.Through single-factor and orthogonal experiments，the formulation of a pear composite color-protecting agent was optimized to minimize quality deterioration caused by browning.Sensory evaluation and orthogonal optimization were employed on the addition amounts of the key ingredients，namely pear pomace，iced pear juice，mutton fat，and corn starch，to determine the optimal formulation.The textural properties of the final composite meatballs were measured.The results showed that the optimal composite color-protecting agent consisted of 0.6% citric acid，0.02% ascorbic acid，and 0.9% sodium chloride，yielding the lowest browning index in pear pulp.The optimal formulation of the pear mutton meatballs was：1 kg mutton，180 g pear pomace，100 g iced pear juice，250 g mutton fat，and 75 g corn starch.This process produced meatballs with superior flavor.The results showed that compared with pure mutton meatballs，the addition of pears improved textural properties such as elasticity，hardness，and gumminess and enhanced the water-holding capacity of the pear mutton meatballs.