ANALYSIS OF SODIUM CHLORIDE BY DIFFERENT METHODS IN NATURA JERKED MEAT MARKED IN NATAL/RN FREE FAIRS

Jerked meat, widely consumed in the Northeast of Brazil, is obtained by the addition of sodium chloride (NaCl), through salting, determining its different flavor and conservation. However, it is a product for which there is no current legislation that determines physicochemical parameters, among them the minimum and maximum NaCl contents. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical quality of fresh jerked meat in free markets in Natal-RN. For this, 4 samples were collected from each of the fairs of the district zones: East, North, South and West. In the East zone there were two collections for greater representation, totaling 20. The physicochemical analyzes were performed in triplicate, following the protocol of Adolfo Lutz, including: moisture content, fixed mineral residue, pH. The sodium content was analyzed by three different means, inclouding the flame photometer equipment (reference method), the digital device “Salt Manager” and by volumetry. According to the results the moisture content varied from 70.78% to 74.05%; the ash content ranged from 2.23% to 5.69% and the pH from 5.32 to 7.33. The volumetry ranged from 0.55 to 2.16 g/100 g; by the flame photometer ranged from 0.62 to 2.69 g/100 g; and by theSalt-Manager the values were from 0.17 to 1.73 g/100 g. The T test shows a significant difference (p <0.05) between the volumetric and Salt Manager analyzes, each with the reference method, respectively 9 and 7 samples showed no significant difference. However, it was concluded that the latter can be considered an alternative method due to its low cost, speed and accuracy of results.Overall, there was a significant difference in the content of sodium and fixed mineral residue in the samples which demonstrates inhomogeneity. The at addition of NaCl during meat processing in need for standardization and control of the amount of NaCl in production.