Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine some microbiological and chemical properties of pismaniye sweet. A total of 47 plain and with cacao pismaniye samples were purchased from retail markets in the Marmara region, Turkey. Mean moisture, ash, fat and total sugar contents were found as 3.16 to 3.31, 0.18 to 0.23, 11.67 to 11.87 and 37.10 to 35.72%, for plain and with cacao, respectively. The microbial counts were in the range of 3.05 to 3.12 log cfu g^-1 for total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (TMAB). 2.19 to 2.51 log cfu g^-1 for yeast and mould, 0.17 to 0.59 log cfu g^-1 for total Coliform group bacteria. It was observed that 51.06% of samples were contaminated by Staphylococcus types, 42.55% by Salmonella-Shigella and 10.64% by Escherichia coli. The microbiological findings showed the presence of high counts of microorganisms depending on poor sanitary practices due to empiric traditional manufacturing procedures.

Key words: Pismaniye sweet, quality characteristics.