Fernández Hospital, XavierHierro Paredes, EvaMartín Cabrejas, IzaskunCaballero, NataliaJiménez BegoñaSánchez Martín, VanesaMorales Gómez, PalomaHaza Duaso, Ana IsabelFernández Álvarez, Manuela2024-05-062024-05-062024-04-162212-429210.1016/j.fbio.2024.104048https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103753Authorship contribution statement: Xavier F. Hospital: Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Eva Hierro: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Supervision, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Izaskun Martín-Cabrejas: Writing – original draft, Methodology, Investigation. Natalia Caballero: Investigation. Begona Jimenez: Investigation. Vanesa Sanchez-Martín: Investigation. Paloma Morales: Funding acquisition, Formal analysis. Ana I. Haza: Funding acquisition, Formal analysis. Manuela Fernandez: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Supervision, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Conceptualization.Food regulations are becoming increasingly restrictive on the use of nitrate and nitrite as additives in meat products, so different alternatives are being investigated to replace their functions. In this study, we tested the antioxidant activity of mixtures of bee products to partially replace nitrate and nitrite in dry fermented sausages. Two combinations of chestnut honey, propolis and royal jelly were added to sausages at 2% concentration, together with 0 and 75 mg/kg of nitrate and nitrite. TBARs and volatile profile analysis revealed a lower intensity of oxidation phenomena in sausages prepared with bee products, but these differences were not perceived by the tasters in the sensory analysis. Only instrumental differences in the a* colour parameter were observed when nitrate and nitrite were not used in the formulation. The addition of bee products did not affect the typical microbiota (lactic acid bacteria and gram-positive catalase-positive cocci) of sausages. The combination of 2% bee products and 75 mg/kg of nitrate and nitrite may be useful to obtain dry fermented sausages with a sensory quality and oxidation stability similar to a standard product containing the maximum amounts of these additives allowed in the European Union (150 mg/kg each).engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationaljournal article2212-4306https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbio.2024.104048open access663/665Cured meatChestnut honeyPropolisRoyal jellyAntioxidantsVolatile profileTecnología de los alimentos3309 Tecnología de Los Alimentos