NITRITE EFFECTS ON FORMATION OF VOLATILE OXIDATION-PRODUCTS FROM TRIOLEIN

Oxidation of triolein resulted in the formation of 5 major aldehydes (heptanal, octanal, nonanal, 2-decenal and 2-undecenal). Pre-treatment of the triolein with a twofold molar excess of N2O3 did not qualitatively affect the compounds formed but reduced the amount formed by 63 to 74%. Treatment with tenfold excess of N2O3 resulted in formation of several unknown compounds. However, the ratio of N2O3 to olefinic groups in lipids in cured meats was less than 1:750. These data indicate that nitrite reduced the formation of aldehydes from lipid oxidation and contributed to anti-oxidant activity. However, the amount of nitrite added to meats is probably insufficient for this to be a major anti-oxidant mechanism.