The use of pre-converted nitrite from vegetable nitrate sources as nitrite substitute in fermented sucuk

In this study, the effects of pre-converted celery, red beet and spinach powders on some physicochemical, chemical and microbiological properties of sucuk were determined as an alternative to chemical nitrite during production and 3 months of storage. For this purpose, 5 different sucuk groups were formed: negative control (K) without nitrite source, positive control (M1) containing chemical nitrite (150 mg/kg), 0,4% pre-converted celery powder (M2), 1,2% pre-converted spinach powder (M3), 3% pre-converted red beet powder (M4). During the production, a decrease in moisture content and an increase in protein, fat and ash contents were observed in the sucuk samples due to drying. During production, similar and lower pH and higher aw values were determined in the groups containing a nitrite source than those of K. At the end of production and storage, the lowest residual nitrite was determined in the samples of negative control (2,89 and 2,61 mg/kg, respectively). The residual nitrite amount of sucuk samples containing a nitrite source varied between 12,78-17,06 mg/kg at the end of production and 12,77-17,73 mg/kg at the end of storage. At the end of production, the sucuk samples containing nitrite source had significantly lower TBARS values with 1,75-1,81 mg MDA/kg. During production and storage, cure and total pigment amounts in the samples containing pre-converted nitrite were higher than those of K, and similar to the sucuk samples containing chemical nitrite. While L* values of the samples containing pre-converted nitrite source were similar to sucuk samples containing chemical nitrite during production, a* values were found the highest in the samples containing chemical nitrite during production and the samples containing pre-converted celery powder during storage period. Total mesophilic aerobic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and coagulase negative cocci bacteria numbers showed a similar trend in all groups. The number of lactic acid bacteria was higher in M2, M3, and M4 than in K and M1. No pathogenic microorganisms were detected in the samples containing chemical nitrite and pre-converted nitrite sources. The sensory evaluation scores of the samples containing pre-converted celery, spinach, and beetroot powder were comparable to the samples containing chemical nitrite. These results showed that the use of pre-converted vegetable powders as a natural nitrite source can be a good alternative in providing the microbial safety, color stability and delaying oxidative changes of sucuk samples during production and storage.