Physico‐chemical, textural, microbial and sensory properties of Turkish Tire meatball

Abstract

Traditional foods are commonly exposed to imitation and adulteration hence determination of their quality characteristics is important for the protection of the consumers and manufacturers of these products. The goal of this study was to determine the physico‐chemical, textural, microbiological and sensorial features of traditional Tire meatball. The moisture, protein, fat, ash and salt contents of the meatballs were in the ranges of 52.42–54.83, 17.57–20.98, 16.41–18.05, 2.58–2.91 and 1.59–2.19, respectively. The firmness and toughness values of the meatballs were 16.13–16.62 N and 10,293.67–11,105.92 g sec, respectively. Major fatty acids were palmitic, stearic and oleic acids. Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, Fe Zn and S were detected in the meatball samples. The common volatile compounds in Tire meatballs were isovaleraldehyde, acetoin, pentan‐1‐ol, hexanal, heptanal, beta‐pinene, 1‐octen‐3‐ol, limonene, nonanal and naphthalene. The main sensory descriptive terms of Tire meatballs were “completeness” “meat odour” and “barbeque odour”, “salty flavour” and “firmness”. Practical applications Tire meatball, one of the famous and customary food in Turkey, is known to be produced with minced beef meat, salt and wheat flour. There were previously no studies about Tire meatball quality characteristics. In this study, we aimed to highlight determination of the physico‐chemical, textural, microbiological and sensory characteristics of Tire meatball.