Traditional packaging systems are refused since these systems do not provide any information about the quality of food products to the consumers and manufacturers at any stage of supply chain. The essence of a new technology to monitor the food spoilage from farm to fork is emerged to reduce hazards such as food borne diseases. Moreover, the food quality monitoring systems clarify the main factors in food wastage during supply chain. Intelligent packaging is employed to provide information about the history of food handling and storage to enhance food products quality and meet consumer satisfactions. Meat is one of the most perishable foods which causes sever illnesses in the case of spoilage. Variety of indicators and sensors have been proposed to warn about meat spoilage in meat industry. In this paper an overview of proposed approaches as well as commercial technologies to monitor the quality of meat during storage and transportation is presented. Furthermore, the existing technologies are compared in the sense of advantages and disadvantages in meat packaging applications.

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The effect of Ziziphora clinopodioides (0.1 and 0.2%) and nisin (250 and 500 IU/g), both separately and in combination, on mesophilic, psychrotrophic and Enterobacteriaceae microorganisms and also on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in raw beef patty during storage at refrigerated temperature for 9 days were evaluated. Carvacrol (64.22%), followed by thymol (19.22%), p‐cymene (4.86%) and γ‐terpinene (4.63%) were the most abundant components of the essential oil. Both the essential oil and nisin significantly (P < 0.05) affected the growth of psychrotrophic, Enterobacteriaceae and mesophilic bacteria and also S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7. Among the experimental groups, samples treated with 0.2% essential oil + 500 IU/g nisin showed the significant most rapid decrease (P < 0.05) in the number of tested microorganisms. Our findings indicate that the essential oil of Z. clinopodioides and nisin has a potential to be applied as an antimicrobial and preservative agent in food products, especially in beef patty.Practical ApplicationsThe genus Ziziphora is widely used as appetitive, carminative, antiseptic, wound‐healing material, sedative, stomach tonic, expectorant and antiseptic in different parts of Iran. In addition, the air‐dried aerial parts of the plant were used in culinary as spice in different foods such as meat and cheese to enhance of their flavor and aroma. In the present study, the essential oil and nisin, both separately and in combination, were very effective in inhibiting Enterobacteriaceae, mesophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms and also Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus. This essential oil and nisin could be natural antimicrobial alternatives to the synthetic chemical preservatives.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of nisin (250 and 500 IU/mL), Ziziphora clinopodioides essential oil (0.1 and 0.2%) and their combination against Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in commercial barley soup during refrigerated storage for 9 days. Carvacrol (64.22%) and thymol (19.22%) were the major components of the essential oil. In untreated samples, the populations of E. coli O157:H7 and B. cereus were reduced the value of 2.30 and 3.95 log 10 CFU/mL, respectively, during refrigerated storage. The count of the pathogens were significantly affected (P<0.05) by the addition of the essential oil and nisin. The lowest population of the pathogens was found in the samples treated with the essential oil at 0.2% in combination with nisin at 500 IU/mL. Our findings indicate that the essential oil of Z. clinopodioides and nisin has potential to be applied as antimicrobial and preservative agents in food products especially commercial barley soup.

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