Changes in the Physico-chemical and Microbial Quality during the Production of Pastırma Cured with Different Levels of Sodium Nitrite

Pastırma, a dry-cured meat product, is produced from the whole muscle and/or muscles obtained from certain parts of beef and water buffalo carcasses. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different levels of sodium nitrite on changes in the physicochemical and microbial quality during the production of pastırma. The changes in residual nitrite, salt, pH, moisture, thiobarbutiric acid reactive substances (TBARS), colour (L*, a*, b*), total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Micrococcus/Staphylococcus (M/S), mould-yeast (M-Y), and Enterobacteriaceae counts of pastırma with 0, 50, 100 and 150 ppm sodium nitrite were determined during the production. The nitrite levels and the production stages had significant effects (p<0.01) on residual nitrite, TBARS, pH, salt, and colour values. The TBARS values of the pastırma with nitrite were significantly lower (p<0.05) than the control. The final TAMB, LAB, M/S, and M-Y counts of pastırma with 150 ppm nitrite were significantly (p<0.05) lower than the control. Also, the a* (relative redness) values of control pastırma were significantly lower (p<0.05) than the pastırma with nitrite. The production stages had a significant effect (p<0.01) on the moisture.