Abstract
Porcine muscle (longissimus dorsi) was cured at 2°C for 21 days in brine with and without nitrite. Brine was withdrawn at few-day intervals to determine pH, NaCl concentration and bacterial counts. The cured meat was cooked at 63°C for 30 minutes. At 2.0% NaCI concentration, the total counts of psychrotrophic bacteria and lactic acid bacteria in the brine without nitrite were some orders higher than those in brine with nitrite. A correlation was found between the final pH of the brine and the product yield. These facts show that the quality of ham without nitrite is affected by bacteria, especially lactic acid bacteria in the brine. In addition, the pH value of the brine is an important indicator of quality of the ham. Leuconostoc culture when added to the brine lowered its pH value remarkably and reduced the quality of the ham. Conversely, Lactobacillus culture affected the ham's quality only slightly. At the end of curing various genera of bacteria were found in brine without culture. In contrast, approximately the same microflora were found in brine containing the culture. Thus, it appears that in the absence of nitrite, the addition of Lactobacillus culture into the brine may control the microflora in brine and prevent from reducing the quality of the ham by Leuconostoc.
