The stable character of dry fermented sausages is largely due to a combination of salting, bacterial acidification, drying and sometimes smoking.
The salting process includes the addition of sodium chloride, nitrate and/or nitrite salts, and ascorbate salts.
Nitrite and ascorbate salts are basic ingredients in fermented meat products.
Nitrite can also be bacterially derived from nitrate.
In combination, these ingredients develop the desired red colour and the cured flavour in fermented products.
Moreover, nitrite exerts antimicrobial activity