The Study of Effect of Natural Warm Pear Wood Smoke on Quantitative Characteristics of Cured Chicken Ham without Nitrite

The use of nitrite as preservative and color stabilizer in meat products like hams is common. Due to its carcinogenic effects, it has negative track record among consumers. On the other hand, low concentrations increases the risk of Clostridium botolinum growth during storage and the production of toxin of botulism. By replacing this preservative with warm and natural pear wood smoke, in suggested situations, a safe product without having carcinogenic affects can be produced.Therefore, the general objective of this study was to investigate the effect of hot and natural wood smoke on the quality of chicken ham without nitrite at 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. In this study, treatments were smoked by warm and natural pear wood for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes after production, vacuumed and kept for 50 days under refrigerate condition (1-4 °C) and were examined physicochemical, microbial and the amount of compounds Benzo-a-Pyrene in 10, 20, 30, 45, 50 days. The results showed that there was a significant difference between moisture content, protein, ash and control in other treatments (P≤0.05). There was a significant difference between the control and other treatments for microbial characteristics (Clostridium perfringens) (P≤0.05). And the residual amount of Benzo-a-Pyrene was evaluated in fumigated treatments within the standard range(