The objective of this study was to evaluate quality characteristics of
low-nitrite emulsified-sausages (ESs, < 75 ppm) containing paprika
oleoresin solution (POS) for replacing sodium nitrite (NaNO
2
). Pork
ESs were prepared with four treatments (reference (REF), 150 ppm
NaNO
2
; TRT1, 0 ppm NaNO
2
+ 0.1% POS; TRT2, 37.5 ppm
NaNO
2
+ 0.1% POS; and TRT3, 75 ppm NaNO
2
+ 0.1% POS).
The physicochemical and texture properties, microbial counts, residual nitrite
and thiobarbituric acid reactant substances (TBARS) were measured during
refrigerated storage of 35 days. Although TRT2 and TRT3 had lower levels of
NaNO
2
, they had higher redness and yellowness than REF
(
p
< 0.05). Microbial counts of total bacterial
counts and
Enterobacteriaceae
of TRT2 and TRT3 were similar to
those of REF (
p
> 0.05). Expressible moisture
percentages (EM, %) of TRT2 and TRT3 were lower than those of REF
(
p
< 0.05). TBARS values of TRT2 and TRT3 were not
different from those of REF (
p
> 0.05). Among
treatments, TRT1 had the highest TBARS values (
p
<
0.05). In conclusion, 0.1% POS in combination with 37.5 ppm NaNO
2
would have quality characteristics similar to those of REF. Therefore,
approximately 3/4 of the initial nitrite level could be replaced with 0.1% POS,
and eventually developed healthier pork products.