Production of cured meat color in nitrite-free Harbin red sausage by Lactobacillus fermentum fermentation

Lactobacillus fermentum was substituted for nitrite to produce cured pink color in a Chinese-style sausage. Treatments included inoculations (10⁴, 10⁶, and 10⁸ CFU/g meat) followed by fermentation at 30 °C for 8 h and then at 4 °C for 16 h. Control sausage (with sodium nitrite, 60 mg/kg meat) was cured at 4 °C for 24 h without L. fermentum. The UV-Vis spectra of pigment extract from L. fermentum-treated sausage were identical to that of nitrosylmyoglobin (NO-Mb) formed in nitrite-treated control. The NO-Mb concentration and the colorimetric a^* value of sausage treated with 10⁸ CFU/g meat of L. fermentum essentially replicated those in nitrite-cured meat. Free amino acid content in sausage treated with L. fermentum was greater and the pH slightly lower compared with the nitrite-cured control sample. This study showed that L. fermentum has the potential to substitute for nitrite in the sausage production.