The manufacture and some quality characteristics of kurut, a dried dairy product

This study was designed to investigate the microbiological and chemical characteristics of kurut, a dairy product obtained by drying yogurt under the sun in rural areas of Turkey. For this purpose, 50 randomly collected kurut samples from the Kars Region were analysed for determination of their microbiological and chemical characteristics. Analysis of kurut samples showed that kurut contained on average 4.52 log(10) cfu/g of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, 2.78 log(10) cfu/g of aerobic mesophyl spores, 3.60 log(10) cfu/g of lactic acid bacteria, 3.60 log(10) cfu/g of Lactococcus, 3.94 log(10) cfu/g of mould and yeast, 2.13 log(10) cfu/g of Enterobacteriaceae, l.51 log(10) cfu/g of sulphite-reducing clostridia, and 1.81 log(10) cfu/g of coagulase-positive staphylococci. Coliform bacteria and enterococci bacteria were not detected in any of the kurut samples. Furthermore, chemical characteristics of the kurut were as follows: pH 4.2, acidity (lactic acid) 2.9, moisture 12.1%, fat 45.9% protein 25.5%, salt 6.7% and ash 10.0%. The quality characteristics of kurut presented here may help create a different perspective for new products to be produced in the dairy sector.