Pastırma is a traditional dry-cured meat product made from whole pieces of cattle or water buffalo carcasses. Sixteen or more types of pastırma can be produced from different parts of the carcass. This study investigated the effect of low salt processing (3% NaCl) on the lipolytic enzyme activity, volatile profile, color, lipid oxidation, and microbiological properties of commonly produced types of pastırma (kuşgömü, sırt, bohça, and şekerpare). In the study, 5% NaCl level was used as the control group. For all pastırma types, the pH changed between 5.5 and 6.0. The a_w value was less than 0.90 for the pastırma types. The L* value increased when the salt level decreased from 5% to 3% (p < 0.05); however, the salt level did not affect the a* and b* values (p > 0.05). Reducing the salt level increased the neutral lipase activity and decreased the TBARS. As the salt level increased, the acid lipase activity increased in the bohça pastırma, and the phospholipase activity increased in the kuşgömü and sırt pastırma (p < 0.05). Furthermore, while Micrococcus/Staphylococcus constituted the dominant microbiota in pastırma types, a 5% salt level led to a decrease in the number of lactic acid bacteria. The volatile compounds were more affected by salt level than by pastırma type. The correlation analysis showed that there are some differences between 3% and 5% salt levels and the use of a 3% salt level increases the abundance of the compounds. The correlation analysis also revealed that there are differences between the pastırma types in terms of the volatile compounds and that kuşgömü pastırma differs from other pastırma types.

The study investigated the effects of chloride salts (control: 100% NaCl, salt mixture I: NaCl/KCl (50/50), salt mixture II: NaCl/KCl/CaCl₂ (40/40/20), salt mixture III: NaCl/KCl/CaCl₂/MgCl₂ (30/40/20/10)) on enzymatic activity, lipid oxidation, and volatile compounds in reduced-sodium salt pastırma, a Turkish dry-cured meat product. Lipid oxidation and instrumental color values were not affected by different salt mixtures. Salt mixtures II and III decreased pH value (p < 0.05). However, the mean pH value did not fall below 5.5 in any sample. The salt mixture treatment had significant effect on water activity, cathepsin B, and cathepsin B + L. In contrast, a_w value was under 0.90 in all treatments. The highest mean values for cathepsin B and B + L were determined in the control group with 11.69 ± 2.73 and 85.82 ± 12.65 U g⁻¹ × 10⁻³ dry matter, respectively. The closest correlation for lipolytic enzyme activities was determined by the mixture II and III groups, while a closer correlation was observed between salt mixtures I and III in terms of proteolytic enzyme activities. With regard to volatile compounds, there was a closer relationship between the control and salt mixture I. As a result, it can be concluded that salt mixture I in reduced-sodium salt pastırma showed closer results to the control group.

The effects of different levels of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) at 0% (control), 0.25%, 0.50% and 1% on the physicochemical properties, volatile compounds and free amino acid composition of pastırma, a Turkish dry-cured meat product, were investigated. The MTGase treatment had no significant effect on the a_w, L* and b* values of pastırma. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value decreased as the MTGase level increased. The maximum cutting force was found to be higher in enzyme-treated pastırma groups compared with the control. Enzyme treatment increased the maximum stress–relaxation force, but no statistical difference was observed between the 0.50% and 1% enzyme treatments. No significant differences were observed between groups in the volatile compound profile. However, in the correlation analysis, the control group showed a close correlation with the 0.25% MTGase group. This was also the case for the 0.5% and 1% MTGase groups. In the samples, glutamic acid, arginine, alanine, cystine and valine were determined to be the dominant free amino acids, and glutamic acid showed a close correlation with valine; lysine with arginine; and cystine with serine. MTGase had no significant effect on the total free amino acid content.