JOURNAL OF MUSCLE FOODS, cilt.21, sa.1, ss.142-165, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
The effects of starter culture and processing on the microbiological and biochemical characteristics of turkey sucuk were studied during production and storage. No differences (P > 0.05) in proximate composition and salt contents were found in sucuks produced either by traditional or heated methodologies. Both traditional (P < 0.05) and heat-processed (P > 0.05) sucuks that incorporated S1 had the lowest pH value, and thus the highest titratable acidity. Heating process resulted in about 1 log unit reduction in yeast counts and 1.5 log unit reduction in lactic acid bacteria, total mesophilic aerobic bacteria and micrococci-staphylococci counts of all sucuks. Within the heat-processed sucuks, heating stage did not result in a significant change in nonprotein nitrogen contents (P > 0.05). Changes in myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic protein were observed because of proteolytic changes during ripening, but, in general, no major difference was observed between sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis patterns as a result of starter culture treatments.