What are the effects of nitrite?

In terms of food hygiene, nitrite is a topic of general concern. The danger posed by excessive nitrite to human health and life safety exists at any time, and clinically, people are often sent to the hospital due to nitrite poisoning. However, nitrite is closely related to people's lives and is needed in many places.

Nitrite is a general term for a class of inorganic compounds, mainly referring to sodium nitrite, which looks and tastes similar to table salt. Nitrite is widely present in nature and is a food additive permitted by the state. It is mainly used in meat products. On the one hand, it gives meat products a unique meat red color and improves the product's organizational structure; on the other hand, it acts as a preservative and has a strong inhibitory effect on Clostridium botulinum. At present, most meat companies at home and abroad use nitrite as a coloring agent for meat to obtain ideal color and flavor and extend the shelf life.

Nitrite as a coloring agent

After heat processing, the color of normal raw meat becomes white, gray, or light yellow. After adding sodium nitrite, the color of the meat becomes light red. Sodium nitrite reacts with myoglobin and hemoglobin in meat products to generate bright red nitrosomyoglobin or nitrosohemoglobin to protect the color, which can increase people's appetite from the appearance.

Antibacterial effect of nitrite

Nitrite has an inhibitory effect on the growth and reproduction of pathogenic bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens. Its antibacterial ability is affected by environmental factors such as the concentration of the residue in meat products and pH value.

The role of nitrite in pickling

Nitrite is added to cured meat to increase the flavor of the meat product. It has two effects on the flavor of meat products: one is to produce a special pickled flavor that cannot be replaced by other auxiliary ingredients; the other is to prevent fat oxidation and rancidity to maintain the unique flavor of pickled meat products.

Nitrite Chelation

During the marinating process of meat products, nitrite can increase the amount of swollen collagen, thereby increasing the viscosity and elasticity of the meat, and is a good chelating agent.