Ascorbic Acid

Available sizes:

1.0 kg (1W9L001)

5.0 kg (8E015)

25.0 kg (6L200)

Ascorbic acid (or vitamin C) helps the fixation of nitrites with myoglobin. It also helps to preserve the colour of raw meat if nitrites are not used.


Ascorbic acid is unstable to light and air. It is also very important that you do not mix it in advance with nitrite because it will reduce the effectiveness of nitrite. However, acid does not react with nitrate because its degradation rate is higher than that of nitrate transforming into nitrite. With the quick degradation of acid, it was also observed that it has no effect on rancidity of the fat contained in dry fermented sausages with long ageing period. Ascorbic acid can be a better choice than sodium erythorbate as an antioxidant because the listing of ingredients will be less off-putting for customers. On the label, ascorbic acid can be listed as vitamin C.