Abstract：This research aimed to find a suitable preservative combination for western tenderloin sausages. One-factor-ata-time experiments and experiments designed according to an L9 (34) orthogonal array were conducted to determine the effect of nisin, sodium diacetate, preservative A and sodium lactate, added singly or in combination, on the total number of colonies. The effectiveness of four preservatives was in the decreasing order of nisin > preservative A > sodium lactate > sodium diacetate. The optimal combination that resulted in a significant reduction in the total number of colonies compared with the control group was nisin 0.02%, sodium diacetate 0.10%, preservative A 0.80%, and sodium lactate 3.00%. In addition, this preservative combination did not significantly change the pH, leading to a significant improvement in the color and overall acceptance and strongly inhibiting the growth of microorganisms causing spoilage in western tenderloin sausages.
