Nitric Oxide as an Antioxidant in Cured Meats

Sodium nitrite is very effective in preventing WOF (Igene et al., 1979 MacDonald et al., 1980a). Igene et al. (1979) washed fresh meat to remove pigments, then cooked the meat with or without the pigment fraction, and with or without 156 ppm sodium nitrite. WOF was much less pronounced, and TBA values were lower, in beef or chicken meat cooked with nitrite (Table 2). 

Some studies indicate that nitrite or related compounds have antioxidant activity even in systems that do not contain heme pigments. MacDonald et al. 

Effect of Nitrite on Thiobarbituric Acid Values and Sensory Scores of Cooked Beef° 

Ionic Iron Levels in Beef Pigment Extracts, and Thiobarbituric Acid Values Obtained on Heating Extracts with Washed Beef Muscle° 

Kanner et al. (1984) further showed that cysteine-Fe—NO is inhibitory to hemin or cysteine-Fe catalyzed oxidaticrn of /3-carotene. They explained the antioxidant activity of cysteine-Fe-NO and hemin-NO as the simultaneous quenching of free radicals [Eq. (1)] and decomposition of hydroperoxides (Eq. (2)]. The free radicals formed during decomposition of hydroperoxides are 

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