Natural additives as substitutes of nitrate and nitrite in dry-cured pig products: preliminary results

Sodium and potassium salts of nitrite and nitrate, authorized as food additives in the EU, are usually used in meat product as inhibitors of microbial growth, as well as to colour stabilizer. Processed meat products with nitrite or nitrate were associated with possible problem to human health, in particular carcinogenic ricks. The addition of natural compounds to processed meat products can be a solution to improve both the aspect related to human health and the negative image lately linked to these products. The preliminary results on color and lipid oxidation indicate that both the mixtures plants extracts are interesting alternative to nitrites in the salami productions