EFFECT OF NITRITE ON THE FUNCTIONALITY AND STABILITY OF HOT‐ AND COLD‐BONED PORK PREBLENDS¹

Abstract

The functional characteristics of hot‐boned (HB) and cold‐boned (CB) pork preblends containing 0% NaCl, 2% NaCl or 2% NaCl + 200 ppm nitrite were analysed using a split‐plot design. Parameters measured included pH, salt‐soluble protein (SSP), emulsion capacities (EC), thermal emulsion stabilities (TES), residual nitrite and TBA values. Addition of NaCl to HB preblends led to higher pH values which increased SSP and improved the TES of the batters. The effect of NaCl was less pronounced on the functionality of CB preblends but was more detrimental to their oxidative stabilities as determined by TBA values. Addition of nitrite was effective in reducing this pro‐oxidative effect of NaCl in both HB and CB preblends but had different effects on their respective functionalities. In salted HB preblends, nitrite increased the amount of SSP but the other functional properties measured were not significantly affected. In contrast, the addition of nitrite to salted CB preblends did not influence the extraction of proteins, but significantly increased their cooking losses. This observation suggests that nitrite‐extracted‐proteins from HB preblends had some retention properties in the cooked batter.