The use of atmospheric pressure plasma as a curing process for canned ground ham

- Nitrite is an important additive for cured meat products.
- Nitrite content in meat batter increased after atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment.
- Canned ground ham cured by APP treatment had no undesirable properties.

This study investigated the potential use of atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment as a curing process for canned ground ham. APP treatment for 60 min while mixing increased the nitrite content in the meat batters from 0.64 to 60.50 mg kg−1 while the pH and the total content of aerobic bacteria in the meat batters were unchanged. The canned ground hams cured by the APP treatment for 30 min displayed no difference in their physicochemical qualities, such as nitrosyl hemochrome, color, residual nitrite, texture, lipid oxidation, and protein oxidation, compared with those of canned ground hams cured with sodium nitrite or celery powder at 42 mg kg−1 of nitrite. The canned ground hams cured by the APP treatment received a higher score in taste and overall acceptability than those cured with sodium nitrite. Canned ground ham can be cured by the APP treatment without nitrite additives.