Assessment of the antioxidative potential of dietary supplementation with α-tocopherol in low-nitrite salami-type sausages

• Published in: Meat science Vol. 72; no. 2; pp. 270 - 279
• Main Authors: Sammet, K., Duehlmeier, R., Sallmann, H.-P., von Canstein, C., von Mueffling, T., Nowak, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: alpha-tocopherol; antioxidant activity; antioxidants; appearance (quality); Biological and medical sciences; carbon dioxide; color; cured meats; curing agents; experimental diets; fatty acid composition; feed conversion; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Food industries; food packaging; food storage; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Lipid peroxidation; meat aging; Meat and meat product industries; modified atmosphere packaging; Nitrite reduction; nitrites; nitrogen; oxidative stability; oxygen; salami; Salami-type sausage; sensory evaluation; storage time; swine feeding; thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; vitamin supplements; α-Tocopherol; Lipid peroxidation; α-Tocopherol; Salami-type sausage; Nitrite reduction; Sausage; Nitrites; Vitamin; Pork product; Meat product; Lipids; Antioxidant; Feeding; Salami; Supplementation; Peroxidation
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2005.07.014

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary α-tocopherol supplementation to pigs on the lipid stability of nitrite-reduced salami-type sausages (custom-produced for this study). Fourteen crossbred pigs were divided into two equal groups. The control group (CG) was fed a basal diet containing 34 ppm α-tocopherol, and the experimental group (EG), a diet supplemented with 364 ppm α-tocopherol, both for 35 days. After slaughter, salami-type sausages were produced with the addition of different nitrite levels in the curing salt (100, 50, 25 and 0 ppm), ripened for four weeks, sliced, and packaged under a protective atmosphere (80 parts N 2 to 20 parts CO 2). The packed products were stored for eight weeks under simulation of the usual conditions in self-service shelves with permanent lighting (9 °C, 200 lux). The sausages were regularly assessed for their oxidative status (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, fatty acid pattern) and the amount of α-tocopherol, and by sensory evaluation. In the EG sausages, α-tocopherol concentrations were twice as high and TBARS were lower than in the CG sausages. The α-tocopherol in EG prevented the loss of unsaturated fatty acids during storage. Sausages of EG containing 100 ppm nitrite had the longest sensory stability. However, the biochemical parameters did not indicate that nitrite had any effect on the antioxidative potential of the sausages.