The effect of lactate on nitrite in a cured meat system

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of sodium lactate on nitriteduring meat curing. In a model system, 8 reaction components were used to assess theeffect of each on metmyoglobin reducing activity by excluding one component at a time.Excluding lactate, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), L-lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) or phenazine methosulfate (PMS) resulted in no reducing activity. A secondexperiment utilizing a meat mixture, lactate was added to ground beef at concentrationsranging from 2% to 6%, with or without nitrite, packaged in oxygen-permeable andimpermeable materials, and stored for up to 96 hours. There was less residual nitritewhen sodium lactate was added to the mixture. Results from both experimentssupported the hypothesis that lactate generated NADH which reduced metmyoglobin todeoxymyoglobin, with the resulting greater concentration of reduced myoglobin reactingwith nitrite to produce more nitric oxide, reducing nitrite concentration and acceleratingthe curing reaction.