Historical, Technological, Biochemical, and Microbiological Aspects of Pastırma, an Ethnic Meat Product from Asia to Anatolia

Meat drying is a traditional method of preserving meat that has a rich past in many cultures. Pastırma is an ethnic meat product defined as dry-curing, drying, pressing the whole muscles of cattle and buffalo, and coating them with a special paste. The most important ingredient that gives the product its characteristic features is in its content: a paste containing fenugreek seed flour, garlic, milled red capia pepper, and water. Among ethnic meat products, pastırma is familiar with dry-cured meat products such as jerky, kadid, cecina, and carne de sol. In this review, historical aspects of pastırma, its definition and classification, detailed production steps, composition and yield, chemical and microbiological properties, pastırma fraud and customer concerns are mentioned. The results of this review indicate that future studies on pastırma may focus on related cultural aspects, elimination of unpleasant odour from fenugreek, histological and chemical effects of pressing meat parts, kinetics of drying, osmotic dehydration, and developing new starter combinations.