Background. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of freeze-dried tomato pomace on the quality of dry fermented meat products with reduced nitrogen compounds. In this study, the effect of the addition of tomato pomace on the physicochemical parameters, antioxidant properties and microbiological safety of dry fermented sausages with reduced nitrate content after three months of storage was evaluated. Four experimental variants of pork sausages differing in the addition of tomato pomace were produced: a control sample and samples with 0.5 %, 1 % and 1.5 % addition of freeze-dried tomato pomace. The sausages produced were analyzed for: pH, water activity, color parameters (CIE L* a* b*), biogenic amine content. The change in antioxidant properties depending on the amount of additive used (in relation to ABTS^•+ and DPPH^• radicals) was also evaluated. Microbiological analyses were also carried out to determine product safety.
Results and conclusion. The products were characterized by similar water activity and pH in the range of 0.83 ÷ 0.86 and 4.74 ÷ 4.93, respectively. The effect of tomato pomace addition was observed to increase antioxidant activity with increasing additive concentration. The product with 1.5 % addition of freeze-dried tomato pomace also had the highest redness (a*), which affected the overall appearance of the finished product. Sausage samples with the addition of tomato pomace were also characterized by a lower putrescine content compared to the control sample. Thus, the results obtained indicate that the addition of tomato pomace affects the redness and increased antioxidant capacity of dry fermented meat products. The most promising results were obtained for dry fermented sausage with 1.5 % addition of tomato pomace. Therefore, the results suggest that tomato by-products can be used in the meat industry to reduce nitrates in meat products and improve their antioxidant activity.