The effects of different levels of orange fiber and fat on microbiological, physical, chemical and sensorial properties of sucuk Barıs ¸ Yalınkılıç, Güzin Kaban, Mükerrem Kaya * Atatürk University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Food Engineering, Erzurum 25240, Turkey article info Article history: Received 11 May 2011 Received in revised form 26 July 2011 Accepted 29 July 2011 Available online 5 August 2011 Keywords: Orange fiber Sucuk Residual nitrite TBARS abstract The effects of orange fiber and fat levels on the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of sucuk (Turkish dry-fermented sausage) were investigated. Different levels of orange fiber (0, 2 and 4%) were added to sucuk batters with different levels of fat (10, 15 and 20%). Sucuk samples were analyzed during ripening. Lactic acid bacteria, Micrococcus/Staphylococcus and pH value were effected very significantly by orange fiber. Orange fiber caused a decrease in residual nitrite levels and an increase in the TBARS values. L * and b * values of sucuk samples increased with the use of fiber. Fiber use also decreased the cooking loss. No statistically significant difference was found between control and 2% fiber groups in terms of texture, color, odor taste and general acceptability scores. While fat levels had significant effects on cooking loss, taste and L * values, ripening time effected all analyzed parameters. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In addition to their basic nutritional properties, functional foods have one or more functionalities on consumer’s health (Gibson and Williams, 2001). As these foods can be derived from traditional foods, they can also be produced by using new technologies. Producing functional foods by modifying the traditional foods is common in the world and there is a great interest on plant products (dietary fiber, phytochemicals, etc.) for functional food production. Because of its technological and physiological properties, such as fat substitution and positive health effects, there are many studies on the use of dietary fiber in meat products (Garcia et al., 2002; Aleson-Carbonell et al., 2004, 2005; Fernandez-Lopez et al., 2007, 2008; Ekici and Ercos ¸ kun, 2007). Dietary fiber is a necessary food component for supporting consumer’s health (Aleson-Carbonell et al., 2003). Dietary fibers are divided into two groups: soluble and insoluble. While soluble fibers include pectin, gum and mucilage, insoluble fibers contain cellu- lose, lignin and some of the hemicelluloses (Thebaudin et al., 1997). In meat industry, dietary fiber has a great importance because of its technological properties such as improving textural properties, reducing cooking loss, formulation cost and fat substitution (Aleson-Carbonell et al., 2004). As for fermented dry sausages, dietary fiber is mostly used for partial fat substitution (Fernandez- Lopez et al., 2008). Sucuk, traditional Turkish dry-fermented sausage, is the most popular meat product in Turkey. Beef meat and/or sheep/water buffalo meat and sheep tail fat and/or beef fat are used as raw materials in the production of sucuk. After stuffing the mixture into air-dried bovine small intestines or small casings of similar char- acteristics, fermentation and drying (ripening) carried out under natural or controlled climatic conditions (Kaban and Kaya, 2009). Initial fermentation temperature and ripening time vary between 12 and 26  C and 6 and 20 d, respectively (Soyer et al., 2005; Kaban and Kaya, 2008, 2009). There are many studies on the production of traditional dry- fermented sausages (salchichon, sobrassada) as functional foods (Fernandez-Lopez et al., 2008; Garcia et al., 2002; Eim et al., 2008). There are two studies on the use of fruit fibers in sucuk production (Özdemir et al., 2009; Coksever and Saricoban, 2010). The interest in the use of fruit fibers in the production of meat products in Turkey is increasing. Thus, such studies are required in order to guide industrial production and form a basis for legal regulations. On the other hand, Turkey is one of the major orange producer and every year, considerable amounts of orange have been processed to fruit juice by fruit processing industry. However, after the orange juice production, a large scale of by-products are formed which are rich in fiber and phytochemicals. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of different orange fiber levels and fat levels on the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of sucuk during ripening. * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ90 442 2312794; fax: þ90 442 2360958. E-mail address: mkaya@atauni.edu.tr (M. Kaya). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Microbiology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fm 0740-0020/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2011.07.013 Food Microbiology 29 (2012) 255e259