Effect of Low-Salt Processing on Lipolytic Activity, Volatile Compound Profile, Color, Lipid Oxidation, and Microbiological Properties of Four Different Types of Pastırma

Past & imath;rma is a traditional dry-cured meat product made from whole pieces of cattle or water buffalo carcasses. Sixteen or more types of past & imath;rma can be produced from different parts of the carcass. This study investigated the effect of low salt processing (3% NaCl) on the lipolytic enzyme activity, volatile profile, color, lipid oxidation, and microbiological properties of commonly produced types of past & imath;rma (ku & scedil;g & ouml;m & uuml;, s & imath;rt, boh & ccedil;a, and & scedil;ekerpare). In the study, 5% NaCl level was used as the control group. For all past & imath;rma types, the pH changed between 5.5 and 6.0. The aw value was less than 0.90 for the past & imath;rma types. The L* value increased when the salt level decreased from 5% to 3% (p < 0.05); however, the salt level did not affect the a* and b* values (p > 0.05). Reducing the salt level increased the neutral lipase activity and decreased the TBARS. As the salt level increased, the acid lipase activity increased in the boh & ccedil;a past & imath;rma, and the phospholipase activity increased in the ku & scedil;g & ouml;m & uuml; and s & imath;rt past & imath;rma (p < 0.05). Furthermore, while Micrococcus/Staphylococcus constituted the dominant microbiota in past & imath;rma types, a 5% salt level led to a decrease in the number of lactic acid bacteria. The volatile compounds were more affected by salt level than by past & imath;rma type. The correlation analysis showed that there are some differences between 3% and 5% salt levels and the use of a 3% salt level increases the abundance of the compounds. The correlation analysis also revealed that there are differences between the past & imath;rma types in terms of the volatile compounds and that ku & scedil;g & ouml;m & uuml; past & imath;rma differs from other past & imath;rma types.