Abstract
Nitric oxide, as well as several other oxides of nitrogen, were assayed for their antibacterial action. It is shown that nitric oxide has virtually no effect on bacteria, whereas both NaNO(3) and NaNO(2) appear to have either neutral or stimulatory effects. It is suggested that the formation of nitrous acid is mainly responsible for the quantitative as well as the qualitative changes that occur in the bacterial flora of cured meat. A pH-dependent "nitrite cycle" is presented to account for the production of nitrous acid in cured meat systems.