Determination of quality properties of Kastamonu pastırma: A dry-cured meat product

Pastırma is a Turkish dried meat product that has been produced for centuries with its unique production technology. It is produced from whole muscle and/or muscles obtained from certain parts of beef and buffalo carcasses. This is the first study dealing with some physicochemical properties of Kastamonu pastırma produced mostly sırt and kuşgömü. Significant differences were determined among the pastırma types in all analyses (P<0.05). Pastırma type significantly affected moisture amount (P<0.05). The average moisture content in the kuşgömü pastırma was determined higher than the sırt pastırma. The total protein amount of all samples was determined over 30%, and it is more valuable in terms of nutrition. However, the salt amount (10% / dry matter) and pH (max. 6.0) in 50% of samples were above the maximum acceptable limit. Also, the water activity values of all samples were above 0.90. TBARS and FFA values of some samples were higher than the values previously determined.