Alternatives to carcinogenic preservatives in Chinese Sausage - Sorbic acid-loaded chitosan/tripolyphosphate nanoparticles

Preservatives in processed meat raise significant concerns associated with bowel cancer and diabetes, and implicate various public health issues. This introduces the need for safer preservatives to uphold public health standards. However, developing safer alternatives to these preservatives poses a significant challenge to food industry. A potential solution to this issue is the use of loaded nanoparticles as preservative agents. This study investigated antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of sorbic acid-loaded chitosan/tripolyphosphate nanoparticles (SAN) in Chinese Sausage. SAN were prepared through ionic gelation, followed by natural air-drying for 20 days. After preparation, the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of various treatment groups were analyzed intermittently during storage at room temperature. SAN-treated samples had significantly lower levels of surviving bacteria, molds, and yeasts than the blank control (p < 0.05) over the entire 72 days of storage. Additionally the SAN-treated samples also had lower levels of surviving bacteria than the chitosan/tripolyphosphate samples after 31-56 days of storage (p < 0.05). The thiobarbituric acid value and pH of the SAN-treated samples were also significantly lower than the blank control (p < 0.05). These results indicated that SAN could be a good intervention strategy to retard lipid oxidation and inhibit microbial growth in Chinese Sausage.