## 3 Results and Discussion
It has also been reported that the use of MTGase in cooked beef meatballs delays lipid oxidation [26]. Color is a significant quality criterion for pastrma [18]. MTGase enzyme treatment did not show a notable effect on the L* and b* values, while the a* value, indicating the intensity of red color, was found to be higher in the 0.25% enzyme treatment (Table 2). However, this a* value was similar to the results obtained by [PERSON] et al. [27]. [PERSON] et al. [16] reported that the addition of 0.50% MTGase caused a decrease in the a* value of traditionally produced pastrma. Additionally, it was found that the a* value of pastrma under modified atmosphere conditions (30% CO\({}_{2}\) + 70% N\({}_{2}\)) decreased as storage time progressed. These differences in a* values are thought to be due to differences in curing conditions and process conditions. On the other hand, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [10] determined that the use of 3% TGase had no significant effect on the color values of restructured ham. Curing, pressing and drying, which are the production stages of pastrma, cause water loss of the product and some changes in proteins and thus affect the texture of the product [28]. The results of the cutting and stress-relaxation tests of the pastrma samples with and without MTGase are presented in Table 3. The maximum cutting force and maximum stress-relaxation force values of pastrma samples were statistically affected by enzyme treatment. There was an increase in the maximum cutting force value with the enzyme treatment, and while the lowest mean value was determined in the control group, the other groups did not vary statistically from each other. According to these results, including the ratio of 0.25%, the use of transglutaminase in pastrma increases the value of the maximum cutting force. This has a positive effect on the texture and consistency of the product. Another study related to traditional pastrma types suggested that the maximum cutting force increased in the presence of 0.50% MTGase [16]. This result may be due to the formation of cross-links in proteins caused by transglutaminase [29]. MTGase catalyzes the acyl transfer reaction, deamidation, and cross-linking of lysine and glutamine residues [30]. It, by catalyzing the formation of isopeptide bonds between proteins, has significant potential to improve the textural properties of foods [31]. Indeed, it was stated that MTGase's effect on functional properties such as the binding capacity of proteins may be responsible for enhancing the springiness and cohesiveness of dry-cured ham [6; 32]. Another parameter giving information about the hardness of the product is the maximum stress-relaxation force. The lowest mean value for maximum cutting force was found in the control group (Table 3). This value increased with the increase in the enzyme usage rate. However, the difference between 0.50 and 1% was found to be insignificant statistically (\(p>\) 0.05) (Table 3). A total of 48 volatile compounds were identified in the pastrrm samples such as acid, alcohols, aldehydes, aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, furans, ketones, nitrogenous compounds and sulfur compounds--depicted in Table 4. Among the compounds, the highest abundance was for aldehydes followed by aliphatic hydrocarbons, sulfur compounds and ketones. The other two important groups in pastrrm were alcohols and esters. Among the alcohols, ethanol exhibited a higher abundance (Table 4). Similar results have been found by [PERSON] [17]. Microorganisms and endogenous enzymes are important factors that play a role in the quality and flavor of meat products made from whole pieces such as dry-cured ham and pastrrma [17; 33]. The changes that occur in the proteins and lipids during ripening contribute to the flavor of dry-cured meat products including pastrrma [17]. As can be seen from Table 4, the enzyme treatment showed no crucial impact on the volatile compounds of pastrrma (\(p>\) 0.05).