Color Development of Direct Acidified Pork Sausage Containing Alternative Curing and Reducing Agents

This study evaluated the inclusion of preconverted alternative cures (celery powder [CELERY], beet powder [BEET]) compared to conventional sodium nitrite (NaNO2 [NITRITE]) formulated to 125 ppm of ingoing nitrite (NO2) in pork sausage acidified with encapsulated citric acid. Formulations included cherry powder (CHERRY) at 1000 ppm as an alternative cure accelerator, conventional sodium erythorbate (ERYTH) at 547 ppm, or no cure accelerator (NONE). The application of a holding period (OVERNIGHT) or not (IMMEDIATE) prior to thermal processing was evaluated. Batches (n = 3) were prepared in a 3 × 3 × 2 factorial arrangement of cures, accelerators, and holding periods. IMMEDIATE processing resulted in greater yields than OVERNIGHT holding (P < .05). OVERNIGHT holding with ERYTH or CHERRY favored the reduction to nitric oxide myoglobin prior to thermal processing shown by increased Commission Internationale de l’Èclairage (CIE) a* , CIE b*, chroma, and decreased hue angle compared to IMMEDIATE treatments (P < .05). In contrast, cooked sausages from the IMMEDIATE group had more intense cured color compared to OVERNIGHT, supported by greater ratios of 650 to 570 nm and semitrained panel evaluations (n = 7) for cured color intensity (P < .05). Alternative cures had mostly similar color compared to NITRITE, but BEET had greater CIE b* and hue angle and lower CIE L* (P < .05). In general, inclusion of a cure accelerator resulted in lower residual NO2 at 1- and 21-d postprocessing. In both OVERNIGHT and IMMEDIATE, raw CIE L* had a strong negative correlation (r ≤− 0.75; P < .01) with CIE a*, chroma, and R650/570 nm after thermal processing, likely attributable to protein denaturation. The findings of this study support that IMMEDIATE processing is preferable for optimal color devel- opment in direct acidified pork sausage. ERYTH and CHERRY favor the formation of cured meat pigmentation, while CELERY and BEET perform similarly to NITRITE.