Treatment of pastirma with pulsed UV light: Modeling of Staphylococcus aureus inactivation and assessment of quality changes

The efficacy of pulsed UV (PUV) light treatment carried out in a wide range of fluence was investigated on pastirma slices by characterizing Staphylococcus aureus inactivation using mathematical models and by assessing the treatment effects on quality attributes. Pastirma slices inoculated on top surface with S. aureus were subjected to pulsed UV light for 5, 15, 25, 35, and 45 s at 5, 8, and 13 cm from the quartz window. Although the 5 cm/45 s treatment (72.3 J/cm²) yielded a maximum reduction of 2.99 log cfu/cm² for S. aureus, this treatment changed the color, moisture, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) values of pastirma significantly (p < 0.05). The quality of pastirma tended to change above 20 J/cm², below which the highest log reduction of S. aureus was ∼1.3 log cfu/cm² obtained after the 8 cm/15 s treatment (18 J/cm²). Kamau's model provided better fit to inactivation data (root mean square error: 0.049-0.116, A_f: 1.013-1.046, R²: 0.991-0.999) than Cerf's and Weibull models.

New Approaches to Production of Turkish-type Dry-cured Meat Product "Pastirma": Salt Reduction and Different Drying Techniques

In this study, the possible changes in the quality characteristics of pastırma, Turkish-type dry-cured meat product, produced by using two different salts (NaCl-KCl) in a curing mixture and two different production techniques (natural and controlled condition) were examined. Moisture, pH, salt, sodium, potassium, TBA, fat, water activity, instrumental colour, texture, and sensory analyses were implemented in order to determine the possible effects of these applications. Fat, aw, pH, colour, tiobarbituric acid (TBA), texture, salt, Na and K values may allow these desired modifications in pastirma production to be limited. The substitution of 15% KCl instead of NaCl was acceptable in terms of the sensorial properties of the pastirma. However, the sensory analyses did not allow for using a higher KCl instead of NaCl because both the hardness and chewiness in the texture of the pastirma samples salted with 30% of KCl were not scored positively. Besides this, negative effects, which may occur during the pastirma production under natural conditions, can be eliminated by the production being under controlled conditions.