Development and Quality Assessment of Fat-Reduced Turkish Fermented Sausage (Sucuk) Formulated with Functional Lemon Fiber

Abstract

This study aimed to produce Turkish fermented sausage (sucuk) with a reduced fat content and to minimize the quality defects, typically associated with fat reduction by incorporating lemon fiber into the formulation. For sucuk production, six different dough formulations were prepared, comprising two fat levels (24 and 28 g/100 g of dough) and three lemon fiber levels (addition at 0%, 1%, and 2% of dough, w/w). After production, physical, chemical, and textural analyses were performed on the sucuk samples, and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts were determined microbiologically. The results indicated that the fat were no significant differences among the formulations in terms of protein and moisture content, water activity (aw), pH, content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), weight loss, lactic acid bacteria count, cholesterol content, residual nitrate, and residual nitrate levels. However, lemon fiber addition had a significant effect on cooking loss, with the lowest cooking loss (16.8%) observed in the formulations containing 2% (w/w) lemon fiber compared to those without the fiber. Differences among the samples were observed in certain texture parameters, particularly hardness, springiness, and chewiness, depending on the interaction between fat level and lemon fiber addition. As a result, the formulation containing 24 g fat/100 g and 2% (w/w) lemon fiber was determined to be a suitable alternative for the production of low-fat sucuk in terms of technological properties.