Effect of mint juice on nitrite in pickled cabbage

Objective To explore the effect of mint juice on the nitrite content in pickled cabbage， and to determine the best concentration of mint juice through comprehensive sensory evaluation.

Methods The control variates method was used to conduct this single factor experiment. The pickled cabbage processing was divided into five groups， one control group CK， and four experimental groups， Lp₁₀₀， Lp₈₀， Lp₆₀， Lp₄₀， respectively. The data were analyzed by using test of normality， homogeneity of variance test， ANOVA and multiple comparisons.

Results The content of nitrite in the experimental group with mint juice was much lower than that in the control group. During each day， as the concentration of mint juice increased， the removal efficiency also increased and the nitrite content in pickled cabbage decreased， too. When the concentration of mint juice was 100%， the nitrite content in pickled cabbage remained the lowest during 1-5 days of fermentation. On the fifth day of fermentation， the removal efficiency of nitrite in pickled cabbage by mint juice with 100% concentration reached the highest （49.55%）. Adding 60% mint juice to pickled cabbage showed the highest score of 92 in sensory evaluation.

Conclusion Mint juice can reduce the nitrite content in pickled cabbage and make pickled cabbage a better flavor. Result indicates that 60% mint juice is the best concentration for a comprehensive effect.