Reduction of biogenic amine and nitrite production in low-salt Paocai by controlled package during storage: A study comparing vacuum and aerobic package with conventional salt solution package

Abstract

Reduction of biogenic amine and nitrites is of practical importance for promoting the safety of fermented vegetable. The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy of package types in reducing biogenic amine and nitrite levels of Paocai during storage. And the related parameters including microbial growth, pH and generation of amino acid nitrogen (AAN) were also evaluated. The results showed that when compared with aerobic package (AP) and NaCl solution package (NP), vacuum package (VP) reduced the counts of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts to 6.98 and 1.21 LogCFU/g, respectively. The pH of Paocai was not significantly different among treatments. VP was more effective than AP and NP in suppressing the accumulation of histamine, tyramine and putrescine in Paocai, as evidenced by the contents that were 0.19, 0.15 and 0.43 mg/kg after storage, respectively. Additionally, VP and AP prevented cadaverine production throughout the storage while NP accelerated its production. For Paocai in VP and NP, the AAN content rose by 66.67% and 33.33%, respectively, while AAN in AP increased by 133.33% after storage. Meanwhile, nitrite accumulation in Paocai was mitigated by VP, as shown by nitrite content that were 56.04% and 36.31% lower than those in AP and NP groups, respectively, at the end of storage. Therefore, compared with conventional NP, VP was the most effective in suppressing the production of biogenic amines, nitrite and AAN, while AP accelerated the accumulation of these nitrogenous compounds, possibly implicated the application of VP to produce fermented vegetable with higher safety property.