Effect of sodium replacement on the quality characteristics of pastirma (a dry-cured meat product)

This study aims to investigate the effect of sodium replacement on the quality characteristics of pastirma. For this purpose, pastirma production with four different salt mixtures (I. 100% NaCl; II. 50% NaCl + 50% KCl; III. 40% NaCl + 40% KCl + 20% CaCl2; IV. 30% NaCl + 40% KCl + 20% CaCl2 + 10% MgCl2) were carried out using traditional method. The use of different salt mixtures for pastirma had no statistically significant effect on the microbial counts and residual nitrite of the final product. The a* and b* values were affected by this treatment. The salt mixture containing CaCl2 or CaCl2 + MgCl2 significantly decreased the pH values and sensory scores. The eighteen volatile compounds were affected by the salt mixtures. Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ had a certain increase depending on their ratio in the salt mixtures. The highest Cathepsin activity in all pastirma samples was observed in Cathepsin B + L. The salt mixture with NaCl + KCl + CaCl2 + MgCl2 increased acid lipase activity. However, this mixture had no significant effect on neutral lipase activity.