THE EFFECT OF FREEZING ON THE STABILITY O F COLOR AND THE RESIDUAL NITRITE IN CURED MEAT

Pork loin meat was cured under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The c olour formation was promoted in anaerobically cured meat and the resid ual nitrite content was reduced. The anaerobically cured meat was froz en and thawed monthly and the colour and residual nitrite were analyze d for the uncooked and cooked cured sample until 6 months of freezing. The aerobic samples have comparatively poor cured colour and they wer e not frozen. Colour forming ratio (CFR) did not decrease during freez ing. With heating, the CFR decreased slightly with the storage period of the cured meat. This tendency was in agreement with the nitrite con tent which also decreased with frozen storage. In the frozen meat cook ed after curing, CFR was lower after a 3-month period of storage compa red with the case of frozen cured meat which was then cooked. In a mod el solution, all of the myoglobin (Mb) was nitrosated at 20-degrees-C after 24 hours even under aerobic conditions. A small amount of Mb was oxidized when the nitroso-Mb (NOMb) solution was frozen and thawed, F ormed NOMb was stable as long as 6 months of frozen storage, and a res idual nitrite could not be detected after such a period of storage. Th e results indicate cured meat pigment appeared essentially to be stabl e during freezing.