Medycyna Wet. 2006, 62 (8) 893 Praca oryginalna Original paper Fermented sausages can be defined as meat products consisting of a mixture of meat and fat particles, salt, curing agents, such as salt, sugar, nitrate and spices: black pepper, red pepper, garlic, cumin, cinnamon etc. which have been stuffed into a casing, fermented (ripened) and dried (14). Dry fermented sausage ma- nufacture is a very important part of the meat industry in many countries. In the European Union, the pro- duction of dry fermented sausages may be estimated at about 750,000 tonne in 1995 (21). Turkish style fermented sausage is a very popular meat product in Turkey, and similar products are also known in most of the Middle East Countries and Europe (13). Generally beef, and the mixture of beef and water buffalo meat are used to produce fermented sausages in Turkey. However, fermented sausages made from camel meat are also consumed in some parts of Turkey. Turkish style fermented sausages are tradi- tionally produced by their natural flora and the pre- dominant lactic organisms in Turkish style sausages are Lactobacillus sake, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus curvatus and Lactobacillus brevis (16). Fermented sausages produced in Turkey are divided into two groups; pasteurized fermented sausages (heat application is required) and non-pasteurized (no heat application is carried out). Recently application of heat is generally carried out to reduce maturation period and microbial load of sausages and therefore increase the shelf life of the product (32). Salami, pepperoni and genoa are considered to be similar types of fermented sausages with non-pasteurized Turkish style fermented sausage. The sanitary condition of fermented meat products that do not receive any heat treatment is regulated only by the fermentation and the drying undergo, since the procedures that meat industries carry out cannot guarantee the absence of pathogens in the meat (8, 11). Although sausages in Turkey are manufactured both by artisanal procedures and on an industrial scale, there is a lack of uniformity in the sausages produced by different firms and industries, and their qualities are very variable. Several studies on the chemical and hygienic quality of fermented sausages were carried out by some authors (8, 9, 12). The authors also stated that there was great non-uniformity in the chemical and microbiological quality of fermented sausages produced by both artisanal procedures and on an industrial scale. Chemical and microbiological quality of fermented sausages made from camel meat FILIZ KÖK, GÜLSÜM ÖKSÜZTEPE*, O. ÝRFAN ÝLHAK*, BAHRI PATIR* Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Aydýn-Turkey *Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Firat University, Elazýð-Turkey Kök F., Öksüztepe G., Ýlhak O. Ý., Patýr B. Chemical and microbiological quality of fermented sausages made from camel meat Summary Chemical and microbiological quality parameters of 100 fermented sausage samples made from camel meat were investigated in the Aydin region. The results showed that the mean pH value noted in the sausages was 6.00 ± 0.25. Additionally, the mean moisture, a w , fat, ash and salt contents of the sausages were 37.69 ± 4.32%, 0.852 ± 0.02, 33.6 ± 4.35%, 3.99 ± 0.47% and 3.28 ± 0.41%, respectively. The mean TVC of the samples was 4.85 ± 0.47 log cfu g -1 , whereas the mean numbers of staphylococci/micrococci, yeast and mould, lactic streptococci, lactobacilli, and coliforms were 4.78 ± 0.40 log cfu g -1 , 2.88 ± 1.06 log cfu g -1 , 4.07 ± 0.46 log cfu g -1 , 2.82 ± 0.98 log cfu g -1 , and <1.0 log cfu g -1 , respectively. In conclusion, the study found that there were variations in the chemical and microbiological parameters in the investigated sausages. The variations in the microbiological load and chemical results of sausages produced from camel meat may be due to insufficient standardization procedures applied during processing, no starter culture usage and the lack of hygienic practices. Camel meat sausages are a specialty of the Aydýn region and thus their production should be standardized. Additionally, providing good hygienic practices during the production process will protect public health and provide healthy sausages for consumers. Keywords: sausage, camel meat, microbiology