Usage of potassium chloride and mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) in reduced salt sausage production

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of the use of KCl, NaCl and mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) flour at different ratios in sausage production on the product characteristics during storage period at 4°C for 84 days for the reduction of salt used in the formulations. As a result of the analyzes made; it was determined that significant changes were observed in the proximate composition of sausage samples by using mushroom flour, KCl and NaCl at different ratios and no significant difference was found in cooking yield, water activity, a* and b* values. It has been determined that the use of mushroom flour causes an increase in the total number of mesophilic aerobic bacteria and emulsion stability values, a decrease in L*, pH, TBARS values and sensory characteristic scores, and adverse effects on texture properties with the reduction of salt. It was observed that the addition of mushroom flour did not cause a significant difference in Na contents of the samples determined at the beginning and end of storage, while a significant reduction obtained by 50% reduction of NaCl or substitution with KCl, without negatively affecting the sensory properties of the product. Consequently, it was concluded that the use of mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) flour was favorably effective on certain product characteristics and it was possible to reduce the salt content of the sausage formulation by 50% or substitute with KCl considering the properties examined in this study.