Monitoring physicochemical attributes and nutritional alterations in lakerda during early-stage and intermediate maturation periods: A preliminary research

The present study examined several chemical, physical and physicochemical alterations in lakerda made from Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda Bloch, 1793) through traditional production methods, focusing on the 10th and 20th days (L10 & L20). Within this scope, water activity (aw), salt content of the meat, pH value, color analyses and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) analyses, as well as nutritional composition (protein, moisture, ash, lipid, carbohydrate, energy) analyses were performed. According to the analysis results, as the maturation period progressed, there was an increase in the salt content and TBARs amount of lakerda. Additionally, it was revealed that moisture (%) and aw content showed a decreasing trend with the increase in storage time (p < 0.05). In addition to all these, it was also determined that color parameters showed significant variability during the storage period; particularly, the L* parameter showed a decrease during storage, while increases were observed in a* and b* values (p < 0.05). Furthermore, correlation analyses of the normalized Z-score findings showed that ash and salt changes were positively correlated, whereas ash content was inversely correlated with L*, pH, and aw. It was also determined that TBARs amount showed an inverse correlation with WI while YI showed an inverse correlation with protein ratio.