Influence of various cooking methods on the concentrations of volatile N-nitrosamines and biogenic amines in dry-cured sausages.

N-nitrosamines, biogenic amines, and residual nitrites are harmful substances and are often present in cured meats. The effects of different cooking methods (boiling, pan-frying, deep-frying, and microwave) were investigated on their contents in dry-cured sausage. The various N-nitrosamines were isolated by a steam distillation method and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The biogenic amines were determined after extraction with perchloric acid as dansyl derivatives by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The results showed that initial dry-cured raw sausage contained 5.31 μg/kg of total N-nitrosamines. Cooking by deep-frying or pan-frying resulted in products having the highest (P < 0.05) contents, compared with boiling or microwave treatments, which were not different from the raw. Although frying increased the content of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), and N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR), it decreased the contents of histamine and cadaverine. Boiling and microwave treatments decreased the total biogenic amines significantly (P < 0.05). Residual nitrite was significantly reduced by cooking treatments. The results suggest that boiling and microwave treatments were more suitable methods for cured meat.