Nitrite Curing of Meat covers:

• the desirable attributes which sodium nitrite confers to meat during processing
• drawbacks of nitrite usage, i.e., the presence of N-nitrosamines
• solutions for the curing of meat without the use of nitrite
• an examination of a multicomponent nitrite-free curing system entailing the color, flavor, and microbial protection of such a system
• and more!

Contents

Introduction

• Cured meat products and residual nitrite
• Cured meats and N-nitrosamines

History of the Curing Process

• Dry-cured hams
• Discovery of nitrite as the true meat curing ingredient
• Current status of processed meats

The Color of Meat

• Mycoglobin and fresh meat color
• Cured meat color
• Characterization of nitrosylheme pigments
• Evidence for a dinitrosylheme complex
• Evidence for a mononitrosylheme complex
• Visible absorption spectroscopy
• Infrared (IR) spectroscopy
• Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy

Oxidative Stability of Meat Lipids

• Lipid oxidation of uncured meats
• Lipid oxidation of nitrite-cured meats
• Mechanism of the antioxidative action of nitrite
• Assessment of lipid oxidation in meats by the 2-thiobarbituric (TBA) test
• Complications raised by nitrite in the TBA test
• Hexanal analysis as an alternative to the TBA test for the oxidative stability of meat lipids
• Usefulness of hexanal as a primary indicator of MFD

Flavor of Meat

• Flavor of uncured meat
• Heat-induced meat flavor
• Flavor of nitrite-cured meat
• Flavor of dry-cured hams

Meat Microbiology

• Spoilage of meat and meat products
• Clostridium botulinum in meat
• Bacteriostatic properties of nitrite

The Fate of Nitrite

• Reactions of nitrite
• N tracer studies
• Determination of residual nitrite in cured meat products and limitations in the assay
• Present residual nitrite levels

Potential Health Concerns about Nitrite

• Chemistry of nitrosation
• Carcinogenicity of N-nitroso compunds
• Detection of N-nitrosamines
• Volatile N-nitrosamines
• Thermal energy analyzer (TEA)
• Non-volatile N-nitroso compunds (NVNCs)
• Presence of N-nitrosamines in cured muscle foods
• Actions taken by the meat industry
• N-nitrosamine inhibitors
• Impact of a nitrite ban

Possible Substitutes for Nitrite

• Color characteristics
• Nitrite-free curing using the preformed cooked cured-meat pigment (CCMP)
• Application of CCMP to meat systems
• Preparation of teh powdered cooked cured-meat pigment (PCCMP)
• Antioxidant properties
• Flavor characteristics
• Antimicrobial properties
• Cumulative effects of nitrite-free curing mixtures
• Taking another look at nitrite

Index

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