Sodium erythorbate (C
6H
7NaO
6) is a food additive used predominantly in
meats,
poultry
Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...
, and
soft drinks. Chemically, it is the
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
of
erythorbic acid. When used in processed meat such as
hot dog
A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...
s and beef sticks, it increases the rate at which
nitrite reduces to
nitric oxide, thus facilitating a faster cure and retaining the pink coloring. As an
antioxidant structurally related to
vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...
, it helps improve flavor stability and prevents the formation of
carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive subs ...
ic
nitrosamines. When used as a
food additive, its
E number is E316. The use of erythorbic acid and sodium erythorbate as a food preservative has increased greatly since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of
sulfites as preservatives in foods intended to be eaten fresh (such as ingredients for fresh salads) and as food processors have responded to the fact that some people are
allergic
Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic der ...
to sulfites. It can also be found in bologna, and is occasionally used in beverages, baked goods, and potato salad.
Sodium erythorbate is produced from sugars derived from different sources, such as
beet
The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...
s,
sugarcane, and
corn. Sodium erythorbate is usually produced via a fermentation process from D-glucose by ''Pseudomonas fluorescens'' bacteria.
Most syntheses proceed through the 2-keto-D-gluconic acid intermediate.
An
urban myth
An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
claims that sodium erythorbate is made from ground
earthworm
An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. T ...
s; however, there is no truth to the myth.
[Sodium Erythorbate - is it an earthworm?](_blank)
Oregon Department of Agriculture It is thought that the origin of the legend comes from the similarity of the chemical name to the words ''earthworm'' and ''bait''.
Alternative applications include the development of additives that could be utilized as antioxidants in general. For instance, this substance has been implemented in the development of corrosion inhibitors for metals and it has been implemented in
active packaging
The terms active packaging, intelligent packaging, smart packaging and connected packaging refer to packaging systems used with foods, pharmaceuticals, and several other types of products. They help extend shelf life, monitor freshness, display inf ...
. Furthermore, sodium erythorbate's antioxidative properties have been shown to reduce the production thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in frozen meats, effectively increasing their shelf-life.
Sodium erythorbate is soluble in water. The pH of the aqueous solution of the sodium salt is between 5 and 6. A 10% solution, made from commercial grade sodium erythorbate, may have a pH of 7.2 to 7.9.
In its dry, crystalline state it is nonreactive. But, when in solution with water it readily reacts with atmospheric oxygen and other oxidizing agents, which makes it a valuable antioxidant.
References
{{sodium compounds
Food antioxidants
Organic sodium salts
E-number additives