Improving the technology for the production of raw dried beef products

Abstract

The relevance of this work lies in the need to reduce the negative impact on human health of sodium nitrite (food additive E250), which is added to meat products, in particular to raw dried sausages, in order to accelerate their maturation and give them the shades familiar to consumers. The aim of the work is to improve the technology for the production of raw dried beef products based on the use of modern biotechnological approaches, sea salt and the natural colouring agent betanin, and beetroot juice as a substitute for sodium nitrite. This goal was achieved through the implementation of a mixed salting method, whereby the surface of the meat semi-product was rubbed with a reduced amount of salt, including 0.0005 kilograms of sodium nitrite per kilogram of meat weight, compared to standard technology, and the rest of the salting mixture, which contained 0.0045 sodium nitrite, was injected deep into the semi-product as an aqueous solution. The source of nitrite was beetroot juice rich in nitrate ion, 0.03 dm3 of which contained 0.0052 kilograms of sodium nitrate, sufficient to synthesize 0.0045 kilograms of nitrite ion per kilogram of meat raw material. The chosen salting method reduced the amount of sodium nitrite from 0.015 to 0.005 kilograms per kilogram of meat product compared to the classical method, and the addition of beetroot juice made it possible to give the product a uniform colour throughout. Contamination of the product with dangerous microflora was prevented by adding a preparation containing bacteria of the Pediococcus acidilactici and Staphylococcus carnosus strains to the syringe solution. A positive effect of Pediococcus acidilactici was found, which was achieved by accelerating the pH of the meat mass to 5.0÷5.5, which stopped the growth of most dangerous microorganisms, including Shigella spp., Salmonella spp., Clostridium difficile and Escherichia coli. The product was protected from the development of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria by bacteria of the Staphylococcus carnosus strain. The proposed technology can be used in the food industry in the manufacture of raw meat products, which will significantly reduce the negative impact of sodium nitrite on human health