3.1. pH, water activity, and proximate composition
The effects of 3.3% SL on chemical composition, pH and water activity (aw) of regular-fat frankfurters were evaluated and compared with sausages containing PS and SB with different levels (0.05–0.10%), and a control. pH and aw values of sausages in all treatments were 6.10–6.13 and 0.936–0.941, respectively, and these parameters were not affected (P>0.05) by various preservatives (Table 4). These results for pH determination confirmed a previous study, which reported that the level of SL did not affect pH values of low-fat (9% fat) frankfurters (Bloukas et al., 1997).