Concentration of Nitrate and Nitrite in Raw Turkey Breast Meat and the Microbial Conversion of Added Nitrate to Nitrite in Tumbled Turkey Breast Meat

The concentrations of nitrate and nitrite in raw turkey breast meat and the microbial conversion of nitrate to nitrite in an uncured tumbled breast meat product were studied to assess their involvement in the formation of undesirable pinkness. Nitrate concentration in raw turkey breast meat ranged from 3.8 to 21 ppm and nitrite varied from 0 to .7 ppm. Microorganisms in the tumbled meat sample converted the nitrate to nitrite; 5.2 ppm of nitrite (NaNO2) were formed from 100 ppm of added nitrate (KNO3) during 40 h of storage at 4 C. It was concluded that if a high amount of nitrate and a long storage period were combined in tumbled turkey breast meat, the probability of the development of a pink color in the oven-roasted product would be very high.