Fermented ham generally has a high salt content. Excessive sodium intake could cause cardiovascular diseases. In order to reduce the content of sodium salt in ham and improve its nutritional characteristics, the effect of substituting 30% sodium chloride by potassium lactate and L-arginine in some physicochemical characteristics of dry-cured ham, including color, moisture content, protein content, texture characteristics, thiobarbitur acid value and flavor throughout the post-salting stage, was evaluated. The results showed that the substituting 30% sodium chloride with different ratios of potassium lactate and L-arginine could effectively reduce the sodium content in fermented meat products while these substituting did not change the flavor of the product; based on physicochemical changes and sensory results, the substituting of 9% L-Arginine with 21% potassium lactate or 12% L-arginine with 18% potassium lactate could be the optimum substituting parameters.