Nitrite residue and malonaldehyde reduction in dendeng - Indonesian dried meat - influenced by spices, curing methods and precooking preparation

•Formula with 2-fold garlic and coriander levels gave higher antioxidant capacity•The spices could lower the residual nitrite and malonaldehyde (MDA) in cured dendeng•Soaking in water before frying, could lower MDA levels of dendeng without spices

This research was conducted to reduce nitrite residue and malonaldehyde (MDA) content of dendeng through modifying the formulation of spices, curing technique and precooking preparation. The result showed that spiced fried dendeng was likely to contain high total phenolics and antioxidant activity. Wet cured dendeng combined with spices containing 2.0% coriander and 10.0% garlic and preparation by soaking before frying was effective to produce dendeng that had no detected nitrite residue and low MDA. In conclusion, the spice formulas used in this study could reduce nitrite residue and MDA level of dendeng, and the treatment prior to frying, by soaking the dendeng briefly in water, lowered MDA of non-spiced dendeng, but no effect of soaking was observed in spiced samples due to the very low MDA found in the samples.