The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of nitrate reduction and storage time on the content of amino acids and biogenic amines (BAs), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and antioxidative properties of peptides isolated from dry fermented loins. The results showed that reducing the addition of nitrates increased the amount of BAs formed during storage of dry fermented loins. The lowest TAC value (tested by ABTS assay) was recorded for the sample with the highest nitrate addition (150 mg kg-1 ) at beginning, while the highest value was noted for the sample without nitrate addition at 180 days of storage. The amino acid profile showed that dry fermented loin with the highest addition of nitrate was characterised by a significantly lower content of amino acids, which are precursors of key aroma compounds compared with loin samples with a lower amount of added sodium nitrate. The sum of ranking differences (SRD) indicated that loin sample with traditional addition of nitrate (150 mg kg -1) after 120 days of storage was characterised by the lowest SRD result, which means that they are the closest to the assumed values, that is the lowest content of BAs, the highest antioxidant activity and amino acid patterns recommended by WHO/FAO/UNU Experts