Alternatives to meat colorants are constantly being upgraded

Nitrate, nitrite as a meat products coloring agent, it plays an important role in the production process of cured bacon, is conducive to improving the color of meat products, so that meat products appear bright rose red, can effectively inhibit the growth of some rotten bacteria and pathogenic bacteria. But traditional meat colorants are carcinogenic, and people are constantly looking for alternatives to nitrites.

Natural food substitutes

Egg yolk powder Egg yolk powder is one of the new meat product coloring agents, which is made of fresh eggs as raw materials, and is made of powder after lyophilization or spray drying, containing a large amount of hydrogen sulfide. Its color mechanism is believed to be that hydrogen sulfide in egg yolk powder has a similar function to nitrite (easy to bind to myoglobin), and it appears bright red.

Celery Powder Celery contains a variety of vitamins, minerals and flavonoids and is a natural nitrate resource with a nitrate content of 2100 mg/kg.

Natural flavors Onions, garlic, and onions are natural flavors. The active ingredients of ginger are curcumin and hexahydropurin, which prevent oxidation of oils. The chemical constituents S-strepenyl cysteine sulfoxide in garlic and its sulfur-containing components such as diallyl disulfide and dialyl trisulfide inhibit the growth of nitric acid reducing bacteria.

Pigment substitutes

Red Yeast Red Pigment Red Yeast Pigment, or Red Yeast Pigment, is a secondary metabolite of Aspergillus erythroxylum. Red yeast pigment is a safe, non-toxic and highly effective pigment with excellent properties such as high temperature resistance, oxidation resistance, pH stability and unique protein coloring effect.

As a meat product coloring agent, the production cost of red yeast red pigment is too high, its purification and photostability, and the potential harm in red yeast red pigment (citricline) are the main factors affecting the expansion of the application of red yeast red pigment. Therefore, in-depth study of the deep fermentation process of Aspergillus flamingos and improving the content and light stability of the active ingredients of functional red yeast is an urgent problem to be solved in the red yeast industry.

Beet red Beet red, also known as beetroot red, is a natural pigment, the main ingredients are beet anthocyanin and betaine flavin. Experiments have shown that samples with beet red 32 mg/kg added have a similar color to the control color of samples added 50 mg/kg nitrite, but with a slightly worse flavor.

Lycopene Lycopene is a natural carotenoid present in fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, watermelons, peppers, etc., its crystals are dark red, high safety, have color and antioxidant effects, and are easy to oxidize and isomerize, and have poor stability. Tomato products such as ketchup, tomato powder, tomato peel residue and other tomato products rich in lycopene are much more stable than lycopene pure products, and tomato products are acidic, which can slow down the growth of microorganisms, improve product storage stability and improve flavor and color, so lycopene and its products provide a possibility for the study of nitrite substitutes.

Annatto Annatto is a natural pigment extracted from the peel of the annatto tree. Annatto is stable to heat, light and oxygen, safe and non-toxic. Studies have found that annatto extract has antibacterial activity against Clostridium gas-producing and Botulinum strains and has an inhibitory effect.

Nitrosohemoglobin Nitrosohemoglobin is the synthesis of nitrosohemoglobin using hemoglobin from livestock and poultry blood. Nitrosohemoglobin is used as a coloring agent to replace nitrite and added to meat products, which can realize the development of low-nitrate and non-nitrate meat products. At the same time, it can effectively use animal blood to make the product high-quality and eutrophicating. Nitrosohemoglobin as a meat coloring agent is a research hotspot at home and abroad.

Compound formulation alternative

Sodium carbonate and five-carbon sugar Studies have found that in pork, beef and poultry ham, sodium carbonate and five-carbon sugar (xylose), 10%-30% niacinamide or vitamin C as color additives; because amino acids can speed up the color reaction, sulfur-containing amino acids have the best effect. Therefore, the addition of sulfur-containing amino acids helps to color and alleviate the phenomenon of fading, and the color effect of the obtained product is similar to that of nitrite and nitrate, and the safety is high.

Ethyl maltol and iron citrate Ethyl maltol is a flavor enhancer prepared by starch fermentation, and iron citrate is a nutritional enhancer. In meat processing, nitrite is not added, but ethyl maltol and iron citrate are added to the process, which has the same color as the use of nitrite and can protect the color for a long time. The reaction of maltol with amino acids can also increase the aroma of meat.

L-Ascorbic acid and niacinamide L-ascorbic acid and niacinamide are the more commonly used food coloring aids. While adding nitrosic acid to meat processing, adding L-ascorbic acid and its sodium salt and niacinamide can make meat products appear good. The amount of ascorbic acid used is usually 0.02%-0.05% of raw meat, and the amount of niacinamide added is 0.01%-0.02%.

Biological coloring agent

Biological colorants have gradually become a research hotspot in recent years. At present, biological colorants mainly include salt-resistant lactic acid bacteria and lactic acid bacteria and staphylococcus.

Lactic acid bacteria are spore-producing gram-positive bacilli that can produce lactic acid, and its application in food has become popular in recent years. In meat products, lactic acid bacteria are used as additives such as ham, lunch meat, and grilled sausages.

Salt-tolerant lactic acid bacteria applied to cured meat processing can inhibit the growth of rotten bacteria, effectively improve the storage performance of meat products, reduce the production of nitrite, and have a good color, which also brings a unique flavor to cured bacon products.

Streptococcus lactate (Nisin) is a polypeptide, as a preservative, with natural, efficient, non-toxic characteristics, for food spoilage bacteria in the gram-positive bacteria have a good bacteriostatic effect, but its antibacterial spectrum is narrow, so it can not be a single replacement for nitrite.

Staphylococcus carnisus is widely used in fermented meat products, with nitrate reductase activity, nitrate can be reduced to nitrite at 15 °C-200 °C, and the conversion efficiency is higher at 300 °C. Staphylococcus carnisus converts methemoglobin into a red myoglobin derivative in both the medium and the meat matrix. Some scholars have inoculated the sausage with staphylococcus to partially replace nitrite and observed the color of the sausage, and the sausage color obtained is good.

Research on alternatives to nitrites in meat products has been studied in a number of scientific researchers. However, so far, no single substance has been found to replace the role of nitrite in cured bacon products, and the research results are limited to the bacteriostatic effect or color effect of a single substitute for nitrite, while the substitution effect of compound additives is relatively good than that of a single substance.

Based on natural flavors, natural colors, biological bacteria (staphylococcus, salt-resistant lactic acid bacteria) in the partial replacement of nitrite as a meat product coloring agent is feasible, future research can try to use natural flavors, natural pigments and biological bacteria compound use or look for other new meat biological bacteria and their metabolites as color agents, in order to achieve the purpose of hair color, low nitrate, safety, and even to reduce the production cost of meat products, increase the taste and flavor of the product.