Effect of replacing beef fat with olive oil on quality characteristics of Turkish soudjouk (sucuk).

Four formulation of Turkish soudjouks were produced in three replicates by traditional methods as follows; one control (C) using 85% beef and 15% beef fat and three treatments by replacing 20, 40 and 60% of beef fat with virgin olive oil incorporated as pre-emulsified fat (PEF) with soy protein isolate (SPI), respectively. It was found that the moisture content and pH decreased while fat and ash content increased on the 21st day of fermentation and in the ripening period. Cholesterol content decreased depending on the amount of incorporated olive oil to the formulation, which shows the addition of olive oil in soudjouks reduces the cholesterol content (P<0.05). TBA values were affected by the amount of incorporated olive oil and the highest TBA value was found for with the 60% olive oil replacement. Oleic and linoleic acid contents were high while other fatty acid contents were low for the 40 and 60% olive oil samples compared with controls. Sausages with 40% olive oil received high evaluation from the panel for appearance and texture but there was no significant difference (P>0.05) between samples in the terms of color and general acceptability. It is concluded that replacement of beef fat with olive oil had a positive effect on sensory quality and on reducing the cholesterol content of soudjouks.