## 3 Results and Discussion
### The Proximate Composition of Sausages
Significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) were also found between the control samples (C, SDC, SDCN, SSC, and SSCN: 47.872-48.869 g/100 g) and the DYBPB-enriched sausage samples (DSDYBPB 50, 90, 180, and 270: 46.882-47.872 g/100 g; SSDYBPB 50, 90, 180, and 270: 46.995-47.697 g/100 g) and DRBPB (DSDRBPB 50, 90, 180, and 270: 47.109-47.542 g/100 g; SSDRBPB 50, 90, 180, and 270: 47.205-47.562 g/100 g). Significant differences between control samples and sausage samples with the addition of tomato by-products, but also between dried and smoked sausage samples and cooked and smoked sausages, were also obtained in the previous study, which aimed to evaluate the bioactive potential of tomato by-products as a natural antioxidant in sausage formulations [12]. Similar moisture content for pork sausages was also reported by [PERSON] et al. [39] (46.63%), and for smoked sausages, [PERSON] et al. [40] reported a 49.83-55.61% moisture content. Lower moisture content for smoked pork sausages (37.4-41.2%) was reported by [PERSON] et al. [41]. This may be influenced by the duration and temperature of the smoking process. Bell pepper processing by-products have a low protein content (0.85%) [42], which influences to a small extent, the composition of the sausages to which they are added. A slight decrease in protein content in sausage samples was observed with the increasing proportion of DYBPB and DRBPB. Thus, the amounts of protein in the analysed sausage samples ranged from 18.750 g/100 g to 19.580 g/100 g, with significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) between the control samples (SC, SDC, SDCN, SSC, SSCN with values ranging from 19.370 to 19.580 g/100 g) and the samples with added bell pepper processing by-products (DSDYBPB, SSDYBPB, DSDRBPB, and SSDRBPB with values within the range 18.750-19.260 g/100 g). [PERSON] et al. [43] observed similar trends and reported a decrease in protein content by adding carrots to Frankfurter-type sausages. Similar values for protein content were also reported by [PERSON] et al. for sausages smoked with different methods (i.e., between 18.39-19.57%). In the previous study, which investigated the antioxidant potential of tomato processing by-products, protein content was recorded in samples of sausages fortified with tomato by-products because the tomato by-products contained up to 175.6 g/kg [12]. The lipid content of dried and ground bell pepper by-products is 1.8% [44]. Thus, the inclusion of these by-products (DYBPB and DRBPB) in sausage formulas at different doses significantly (\(p<0.05\)) influenced the fat content, with the control samples (SC, SDC, SDCN, SSC, SSCN) recording the highest fat percentages (25.462-26.483 g/100 g), compared to the samples with added bell pepper processing by-products (DSDYBPB, SSDYBPB, DSDRBPB, and SSDRBPB), with values in the range 24.896-25.848 g/100 g. A slight reduction in fat content was observed as the level of added DYBPB and DRBPB increased (Table 3). As regards the heat treatments applied, it can be seen that the type of heat treatment applied does not significantly influence the fat content. [PERSON] et al. [45] reported similar findings for turkey sausages to which he added different proportions of carrot paste, but also by [PERSON] et al. [12] for sausages in which tomato processing by-product powder has been included in the recipe. The ash content provides information on the total mineral content [46]. The mineral content (Table 2) was in the range of 2.360-3.125 g/100 g, being significantly higher (\(p<0.05\)) in the case of sausage samples with the addition of bell pepper processing by-products, i.e., DSDYBPB, SSDYBPB, DSDRBPB, and SSDRBPB. It can also be seen that the mineral content increases proportionally with the dose of DYBPB and DRBPB added to the sausage formulations. Similar findings were reported by [PERSON] et al. [47] in chicken sausages mashed with various vegetables (oyster mushrooms, purple cabbage, spinach, bell peppers, and morel mushrooms), which were explained by the high fibre content of the vegetables. [PERSON] et al.