Curing properties of sodium nitrite in restructured goat meat (chevon) jerky

Abstract

ABSTRACTKnown curing impacts on goat meat (chevon) is limited due to the low production and consumption of chevon products in the United States. This study, therefore, assessed sodium nitrite influences on the quality parameters of restructured chevon jerky and its stability. Inclusion of NaNO2 increased (p < 0.01) the redness of chevon jerky (14.2 versus 8.17); however, the redness was decreased (p < 0.01) over a 30 d storage period. The texture properties and microbial counts of jerky were not influenced by NaNO2. However, the total microbial counts increased (1.84 to 6.00 ± 0.468 log CFU/g; p < 0.01) with storage time in chevon jerky whether or not nitrite was included. Inclusion of NaNO2 decreased (p < 0.05) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances values (4.26 versus 4.81 mg MDA/kg), which did not change during storage. Among 28 isolated fatty acids from chevon jerky, palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1n9), and linoleic (C18:2n6) acids were the major four fatty acids. Of the 21 positively identified volatile compounds, six terpenes (α-pinene, β-pinene, β-phellandrene, carene, limonene, and cubebene), octanone and nonanal were the most abundant compounds. Neither processing treatment nor storage time significantly influenced the concentration of individual fatty acids and volatile compounds. Cured jerky had higher (p < 0.05) sensory color and flavor scores compared to uncured jerky. Results indicated that inclusion of NaNO2 might improve color and sensory properties, as well as control the lipid oxidation of chevon jerky. However, the reduction of lipid oxidation in jerky was not revealed in product fatty acid or volatile flavor compounds.