Characterization of traditional processing of Kitoza, a salted/dried/smoked meat product from Madagascar

Kitoza is a traditional salted and dried and/or smoked meat product of Madagascar. lt is made from beef or pork strips and is produced at artisanal and familial levels. In a previous study, the analyses of 60 end-products showed that smoked Kitoza contained approximately SO g/100g of water, 3g/100g of salt and showed a water activity of 0.93 on average. They are thus classified mainly in food with high moisture content while the most dried products are in the zone of intermediate humidity food (Leistner and Rödel, 1976). Smoking the product however led to Benzo (a) Pyrene (B(a)P) content {indicator of carcinogenic compounds contamination of cooked and Smoked meat products) above the norm of 5 ppb in 10 samples. Moreover, if the final pH values (of the order of 5.8) indicated that Kitoza is not a fermented food, 11 samples had some D-lactic acid content as described in sausage, a well-known fermented product. This study describes the traditional process for making smoked Kitoza. This process has not been the focus of any other scientific study to date.It has been characterized in terms of mass transfers during salting and smoking (salt gain, water loss) and evolution of biochemical (water, salt, Aw, pH, titrable acidity, D andLl-lactic acid , phenol and B(a)P contents) and microbiological (lactic acid bacteria and total flora) characteristics during the process. Measurements were performed on the raw material, the product after salting, and the product after smoking. This kinetic study allows defining better the unit operations involved in the process and their impact on product quality. (Résumé d'auteur