Changes in the Total Lipid, Neutral Lipid, Phospholipid and Fatty Acid Composition of Phospholipid Fractions during Pastirma Processing, a Dry-Cured Meat Product

Pastirma is a dry-cured meat product, produced from whole beef or water buffalo muscles. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of production stages (raw meat, after curing, after 2nd drying and pastirma) on the total lipid, neutral lipid, phospholipid and fatty acid composition of phospholipid fraction of pastirma produced from beef M. Longissimus dorsi muscles. The pH and colour (L*, a* and b*) analyses were also performed in raw meat and pastirma. It was found that pastirma production stages had significant effects (p<0.01) on the total amounts of lipid, neutral lipid and phospholipid, and the highest amounts of lipid, neutral lipid and phospholipid were detected in pastirma. In pastirma, neutral lipid ratio was determined as 79.33 +/- 2.06% and phospholipid ratio as 20.67 +/- 2.06%. Phospholipids was proportionately lower in pastirma than raw meat. Pastirma production stages affected pentadecanoic acid (15:1) (p<0.01), linoleic acid (18:2n-6) (p<0.05), gamma-linoleic acid (18:3n-6) (p<0.05), erucic acid (22:1n-9) (p<0.05), docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-6) (p<0.05), total unsaturated fatty acid (ZUSFA) (p<0.05) and total saturated fatty acid (Sigma SFA) (p<0.05) ratios of phospholipid fraction and also the moisture content (p<0.01). Pastirma process also affected pH and colour (L*, a* and b*) values (p<0.01), and these values were higher in pastirma than raw meat.