This study investigated the potential for using vegetable powders as a natural
replacement for sodium nitrite and their effects on the physicochemical
characteristics of alternatively cured pork products. We analyzed pork products
subjected to four treatments: control (0.015% sodium nitrite), Chinese
cabbabe powder (CCP) treatment (0.4% Chinese cabbage powder), radish
powder (RP) treatment (0.4% radish powder), and spinach powder (SP)
treatment (0.4% spinach powder). Among the vegetable powders prepared in
this study, SP had the highest (p<0.05) nitrate content, while CCP had
the lowest (p<0.05). The cooking yields from these treatments were not
significantly different from each other. However, the products with vegetable
powders had higher (p<0.05) pH and thiobarbituric acid reactive
substances values than the control. Pork products with vegetable powders also
showed lower CIE L* values and higher CIE b* values than the nitrite-added
control. RP treatment had similar (p>0.05) CIE a* values to the control,
while SP treatment had the lowest (p<0.05) CIE a* values. The residual
nitrite content was lower (p<0.05) in the vegetable powder added pork
products than in the control, although nitrosyl hemochrome and total pigment
contents in the CCP and RP treatments were similar (p>0.05) to those in
the control. The control, CCP, and RP treatments showed curing efficiencies
greater than 80%, indicating that CCP and RP would be promising potential
replacements for sodium nitrite. The results of this study suggest that RP may
be a suitable natural replacement for sodium nitrite to produce alternatively
cured meat products, compared to other leafy vegetable powders.