The change in meat pigments in sausage making processes

The colour of cured meat and sausages depends essentially on the chemical modifications of the natural pigments of animal muscle. This paper deals with the influence of processing on the pigments and the control of their transformation by studying the refletion spectra of the surface of the samples. It is demonstrated that better curing conditions may be obtained by accurate control of the chemical modifications of pigments during the different stages of processing: curing, smoking, drying, etc. The keeping qualities of non‐heated cured meat products (e.g., fermented sausages) depend essentially on the efficiency of the nitrosation process. Incomplete nitrosation of the porphyric pigments increases the sensitivity to discoloration by a Fe 2+ → Fe 3+ oxidation of the residual native myoglobin.