COMBINED EFFECT OF NITRITE AND CHLORIDE ON THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF MEAT AS SHOWN BY SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Scanning electron microscopy of the ultrastructure of cured beef has shown that the combination of sodium chloride and nitrite effects changes in the interfiber spaces not caused by either salt alone. The effect is attributed to catalysis of the nitrosation reaction through the formation of the more powerful nitrosating species, NOCI.