Effect of Using Vegetable Powders as Nitrite/Nitrate Sources on the Physicochemical Characteristics of Cooked Pork Products

• Published in: Food science of animal resources Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 831 - 843
• Main Authors: 정종연(Jong Youn Jeong), 배수민(Su Min Bae), 윤지예(Jiye Yoon), 정다훈(Da Hun Jeong), 곽승화(Seung Hwa Gwak)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 한국축산식품학회 30.09.2020; Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources
• Subjects: spinach powder; alternatively cured meat; sodium nitrite; Chinese cabbage powder; radish powder
• ISSN: 2636-0772; 2636-0780

This study investigated the potential for using vegetable powders as a natural replacement for sodium nitrite and their effects on the physicochemical characteristics of alternatively cured pork products. We analyzed pork products subjected to four treatments: control (0.015% sodium nitrite), Chinese cabbabe powder (CCP) treatment (0.4% Chinese cabbage powder), radish powder (RP) treatment (0.4% radish powder), and spinach powder (SP) treatment (0.4% spinach powder). Among the vegetable powders prepared in this study, SP had the highest (p<0.05) nitrate content, while CCP had the lowest (p<0.05). The cooking yields from these treatments were not significantly different from each other. However, the products with vegetable powders had higher (p<0.05) pH and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances values than the control. Pork products with vegetable powders also showed lower CIE L⁎ values and higher CIE b⁎ values than the nitrite-added control. RP treatment had similar (p>0.05) CIE a⁎ values to the control, while SP treatment had the lowest (p<0.05) CIE a⁎ values. The residual nitrite content was lower (p<0.05) in the vegetable powder added pork products than in the control, although nitrosyl hemochrome and total pigment contents in the CCP and RP treatments were similar (p>0.05) to those in the control. The control, CCP, and RP treatments showed curing efficiencies greater than 80%, indicating that CCP and RP would be promising potential replacements for sodium nitrite. The results of this study suggest that RP may be a suitable natural replacement for sodium nitrite to produce alternatively cured meat products, compared to other leafy vegetable powders.