Deboned swine palettes of 1.6kg were submitted to injection of brine containing Staphylococcus xylosus. The palettes were maintained in a chamber with temperature control for 30 days at two different temperature ranges (2°C to 8°C and 4°C to 9°C), were then stored for 120 days at 10°C and 25°C and vacuum packed. During maturation and storage, nitrite and TBARS were monitored, aiming to identify if nitrite would act as conserving and anti-oxidant agent and when the TBARS level would be harmful to consumer’s health. The concentration of nitrite up to the 10th day had a conserving effect in the surface and inside the palettes. The nitrite acted as anti-oxidant up to the 20th day of the second treatment, also at the surface and inside the palettes. The TBARS content found inside the product for both treatments, after the maturation and storage period, would not be harmful for consumers.
nitrite; TBARS; swine palette; health; maturation; anti-oxidant
