SUMMARY
Dry clotted cream is a dairy product produced by drying of traditional clotted cream in tandoor and/or in the shade. In this study, it was aimed to determine some physical, chemical, textural, microbiological and sensory properties in dry clotted cream samples collected from Erzurum and Nevsehir regions (10 pieces). In addition, images of samples were analyzed using the OpenCV (Open-Source Computer Vision Library) image processing library and the C++ language. It was determined that the lactic acid (%) value of dry clotted cream samples found between 0.46-1.21 and pH value between 6.19-6.83. The average dry matter, fat and ash contents of the samples were 71.44%, 42.25% and 2.70%, respectively. According to the color measurements, the mean L* value was 77.42, the a* value was 2.13 and the b* value was 17.44. The average hardness values of dry clotted cream samples were determined as 1761.37 N, springiness value 4.30, cohesiveness value 0.64, gumminess value 689.41 N, chewiness value 1212.00 N and resilience value 0.601. The porosity status of samples according to the results of image processing analysis varies in the range of 12.27-29.84%. As a result of the microbiological evaluation, it was determined that the samples contained an average of 3.94 log cfu/g yeast-mold and 3.97 log cfu/g coliform group bacteria. Also, Escherichia coli was detected in 4 samples. Appearance, structure and odor parameters in samples were detected as 5.77, 5.75 and 5.49, respectively. In this study, it is understood that there are dry clotted cream samples with different characteristics. It is considered that this traditional dairy product which is about to be forgotten, needs to be optimized and produced under standard and hygienic conditions.