Evaluating the Potential of Vegetable Powders as Nitrite Replacements in Cured Pork Sausages: Effects of Different Processing Methods to Produce Chinese Cabbage and Radish Powders

This study investigated the potential of Chinese cabbage and radish powders as natural sources of nitrite in ground pork sausages. Four vegetable powders from Chinese cabbage and radish, depending on the processing method, were prepared for evaluation: filtered Chinese cabbage juice powder (FCJP), crushed Chinese cabbage powder (CCP), filtered radish juice powder (FRJP), and crushed radish powder (CRP). Both FCJP and FRJP from filtered juice of Chinese cabbages and radishes had higher total soluble solids and water soluble index compared to CCP and CRP from crushed Chinese cabbages and radishes. Additionally, FRJP and CRP showed a higher nitrate content than CCP and FCJP. The evaluation of vegetable powders against products containing sodium nitrite (control) or commercial vegetable powder (CVP) in ground pork sausages showed that the use of FRJP and CRP resulted in similar levels of redness compared to the control, whereas those cured with FCJP or CCP resulted in lower CIE a* values. However, regardless of the type and processing method of vegetables, all sausages treated with vegetable powders were similar in terms of cured pigment, total pigment, curing efficiency, and lipid oxidation compared with the control. Although lower hardness was observed in sausages treated with FRJP, no other treatments affected textural attributes. These results indicate that FRJP and CRP have great potential as natural curing agents for replacing nitrite in cured sausages. The use of powders obtained from filtered juices may provide extended utility as vegetable-based curing methods for other meat products.