Additives and dyes for sausage color

The color of sausages is one of the quality parameters that most influence consumer choice. The manufacture of sausages (fresh or cooked) involves the addition of some additives, which, despite having different technological functions, have an effect on the color of the sausage. Among them, we have:

Nitrite

Generally marketed as curing salt. Mainly used as preservatives in cured meat products together with nitrates. In cooked sausages, they are used to obtain the characteristic pink color of this food, since under favorable conditions nitrite (NO2) gives rise to nitric oxide (NO), an active component that combines with myoglobin (Mb) from the muscle. to form nitrosylmyoglobin (NOMb), which transforms into nitrosylhemochrome or nitrosoferrohemochrome, and fixes the reddish color of the meat.

Ascorbic acid

It is an organic compound that serves as an antioxidant, being obtained naturally by extraction from vegetables or synthetically by microbial fermentation. It also has the ability to reduce residual nitrite directly into nitric oxide and therefore helps keep the product under the legal limit of permitted nitrite;

Ascorbates

They are antioxidants that derive from ascorbic acid. They are used to intensify and accelerate the development of curing color in cooked sausages. The most commonly used are sodium ascorbate (INS 301), calcium ascorbate (INS 302) and potassium ascorbate (INS 303) [INS = International Numbering System for Food Additives; INS numbers were developed by the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants to establish an international numerical identification system];

Erythorbic acid

It is a stereoisomer of ascorbic acid. It is used as an antioxidant and its function, in the preparation of cooked sausages, is to enhance the characteristic pink color. It is identified as INS 315, and sodium erythorbate (INS 316) can also be used in the production of this type of food;

Citric acid

It is an acidulant used to enhance the color of cooked sausages. It is obtained naturally, through the extraction of citrus fruits or synthetically, through the fermentation of the fungus Aspergillus niger. Its INS number is 330. Its addition must be carried out at the end of processing in order to maintain the dough at ideal pH levels for as long as possible.

The coloring of sausages can also be obtained with the incorporation of additives whose function is to transmit this sensorial characteristic (coloring). For this, substances obtained from natural sources or prepared by physical and chemical methods can be used, such as:

carminic acid

It is considered an ortho-phenoxy-carboxylic acid with a hydrophilic character, which has a reddish color, which can vary to purple, when the pH increases. INS 120 is extracted from cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) and is used as a coloring agent in cooked sausages to compensate for the lack of myoglobin. It is stable in light and heat and under pH variations;

Betanin

It is a natural dye known as INS 162, betacyanin or beet red, as it derives from the extract of this tuber. It is considered a harmless additive that is occasionally used in the manufacture of cooked sausages because it has little stability in the face of light and heat;

Paprika Extract

The INS 160c. It is an extract obtained from red pepper that is widely used in the preparation of fresh sausages. However, in the production of cooked sausages its use is limited, since, depending on the amount added, there is the possibility of generating yellowish or orange tones in the final product.

It is important to note that the colorings must be added to the dough at the beginning of the process, to ensure uniform distribution. Today, the addition of vegetable pigments and/or natural compounds in the preparation of sausages is an alternative to reduce the use of nitrites and other additives that impart the color of this sausage or enhance it.