Determination of quality characteristics of pastirma produced from different meat qualities by injecting different levels of bromelain

In this study, microbiological, physicochemical, instrumental and sensory analyzes of the pastirma produced by injecting two different doses of 0.015 g/L and 0.03 g/L of bromelain, a plant derived protease enzyme originating from pineapple, into sirloin, hip and nuar group meats were performed and the effects of bromelain on pastirma were analyzed. Its effects on quality were investigated. Analysis samples were taken from the pastirma production stages, respectively, after the meat preparation stage, after the curing application, after the second drying process, after the fenugreek drying, on the 0th day of pastirma, and on the 30th and 90th days after production. In the study, bromelain doses had an effect on the number of Enterobacteriaceae in pastirma samples (p˂0.001), 0.03 g/L dose caused a significant decrease in TBARS measurements (p˂0.001), b* (yellowness) decreased significantly in color results (p˂ 0, 05), In the Warner-Bratzler fuel test regarding texture, the 0.015 g/L dose increased the impact intensity significantly, whereas the yield value of bromelain measured at the 0.03 g/L dose increased lower than the control group values (p˂0).05 ) was detected. In other analyses, differences were observed depending on the type of meat used in pastirma production, time and production stages. As a result, the doses of 0.015 g/L and 0.03 g/L of the Bromelain enzyme injected into the meat to be used in pastirma production affected only the number of Enterobacteriaceae in microbiological analysis, only the TBARS values in physicochemical analyses, and only the b* value in instrumental color analyses. It was determined that it did not affect the sensory and texture profile analysis results. In this context, instead of using bromelain alone to ripen different meats to be used in pastirma production, it is recommended to conduct studies using different doses of bromelain or in combination with different compounds.