Effects of the Addition Levels of White Kimchi Powder and Acerola Juice Powder on the Qualities of Indirectly Cured Meat Products

This study investigated the effects of the addition levels of white kimchi powder and acerola juice powder, as natural sources of sodium nitrite and sodium ascorbate, on the quality of cooked ground pork products. Freeze-dried white kimchi powder was prepared and used after fermentation for 2 wk. Six treatments were included: control (100 ppm sodium nitrite and 500 ppm sodium ascorbate), treatment 1 (0.2% white kimchi powder, 0.02 % starter culture, and 0.1% acerola juice powder), treatment 2 (0.2% white kimchi powder, 0.02% starter culture, and 0.2% acerola juice powder), treatment 3 (0.4% white kimchi powder, 0.04% starter culture, and 0.1% acerola juice powder), treatment 4 (0.4% white kimchi powder, 0.04% starter culture, and 0.2% acerola juice powder), and treatment 5 (0.4% celery powder, 0.04% starter culture, and 0.2% acerola juice powder). The pH values were decreased (p<0.05) because of lower pH of acerola juice powder, resulting in lower cooking yields (p<0.05) in these treatments. CIE L* and CIE a* values of indirectly cured meat products were not different (p>0.05) from the sodium nitrite-added control. However, indirectly cured meat products showed lower (p<0.05) residual nitrite contents, but higher (p<0.05) nitrosyl hemochrome contents and cure efficiency than the control. Treatments 2 and 4 had higher (p<0.05) total pigment contents and lipid oxidation than the control. This study indicates that white kimchi powder coupled with acerola juice powder has substantial potential to substitute synthetic nitrite to naturally cured meat products, which could be favored by consumers seeking clean label products.