Determining of Some Quality Properties of Sucuks Produced by Lactulose Addition

Lactulose is a disaccharide with a prebiotic property that promotes the development of probiotic bacteria. It is increasingly used in the food industry, especially in the use of probiotic foods. Probiotic meat products are relatively new and not well known area of the meat industry. In the study, which is planned based on the possibility that lactulose can influence the quality properties of sucuks positively, sucuks prepared with the addition of lactulose at different concentrations (0.5%, 1% and 2%) were examined according to their various properties following the fermentation process. According to the results, the addition of lactulose did not cause any difference in the dry matter, ash and pH values of the sucuks (p> 0.05), however, the water activity of the sucuks containing 2% lactulose were found significantly lower when compared to the other groups (p<0.05). The addition of lactulose increased the L* value (brightness) of the products, and decreased the b* value (yellowness), but did not cause any statistical difference (p>0.05). Lactulose supplementation did not cause any difference in the textural properties of samples, on the other hand sucuks with 2% lactulose were the most favored group for sensory evaluation. In addition, according to the results of microbiological analysis, there was no difference in the number of Enterobacteriacea, Total Aerobic Mesophilic Bacteria (TAMB) and yeast-mold in the samples at the end of the fermentation process. However, the count of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) was found to higher (p<0.05) in the samples with lactulose added compared to the control samples. In the SEM images of the samples, bacil bacteria were observed very dense in the 2% lactulose added sucuks.