AFËRDITA SHTËMBARI1*, ROZANA TROJA1
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1 University of Tirana, Faculty of Natural Science, Departmentof Industrial Chemistry / BulevardiZogu I, Tirana 1001, Albania * E-mail: aferdita.shtembari@fshn.edu.al Abstract Sausage is a type of meat product usually made from pork, beef or poultry. Nitrite and nitrate are preservatives used in meat products (sausages) for their effects on microbial and chemical properties and sensory quality. Cancer risk is one of the most important nitrite issues because it is the reaction of Nitric Acid with secondary amines that create nitrosamines.The aim of this study was to determine the amount of nitrites and nitrates in different types of sausages produced by Albanian companies and imported. A total of 7 samples were randomly purchased from the market and chemical properties such as water activity, moisture, and pH were evaluated. The determination of the level of nitrites and nitrates was done by spectrophotometric method.The concentration of nitrites and nitrates in different types of analysed sausage was between 19-189 ppm and 24-261 ppm, respectively. While 42.8 % and 14.3 % of the samples presented nitrite and nitrate levels, respectively, significantly above what is recommended by the legislation.The results of this study show that the samples were found with nitrite and nitrate residuse higher than the limit allowed in meat products, so, it is important that the subjects of official control carry out routine surveillance of sausages that are sold in markets, thus avoiding health problems for consumers. Keywords: nitrate; nitrite; sausage. |