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

Pastirma, 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 pastirma. 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 pastirma 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 pastirma with nitrite were significantly lower (p<0.05) than the control. The final TAMB, LAB, M/S, and M-Y counts of pastirma with 150 ppm nitrite were significantly (p<0.05) lower than the control. Also, the a* (relative redness) values of control pastirma were significantly lower (p<0.05) than the pastirma with nitrite. The production stages had a significant effect (p<0.01) on the moisture.