CHANGES IN PHYSICOCHEMICAL, MICROBIOLOGICAL AND SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONALLY PRODUCED TURKISH SUCUK DURING RIPENING AND STORAGE: NATURAL OR SYNTHETIC ADDITIVES?

Abstract

The effects of addition of nitrite, lactic acid bacteria and propolis on the physicochemical, microbiological andsensory characteristics of traditional Turkish sucuk were studied during the sun-drying and storage stages.Microbiological and physicochemical analysis were performed at the beginning of sun drying period (3rd day), atthe end of the sun-drying period (14th day) and in the storage period (28th day). According to the microbiologicalevaluation of the samples, analyses show that total bacteria, total yeast and mould and lactic acid bacteria countsvaried significantly (P <0.05) with nitrite, lactic acid bacteria and propolis addition and time. Propolis decreasedthe total bacteria, mould and yeast counts compared to the control sample at the end of the 28th day withacceptable sensory properties. Therefore, it can be concluded that as a natural strong antimicrobial, propolis canbe added to traditional sucuk formulations to substitute nitrite to avoid negative health effects.