Effect of packaging technology on microbiological and sensory quality of a cooked blood sausage, Morcela de Arroz, from Monchique region of Portugal

Abstract

Morcela de Arroz (MA), a popular Portuguese blood sausage, with high pH and water activity (aw), is traditionally commercialized without preservatives and unpacked. This study evaluated the best packaging solution to extend MA shelf life stored at 4±1°C for 44days: without packaging (WP), vacuum (VP) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (80% CO2; 20% N2). Mesophilic (MTVC), psychrotrophic (PTVC), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), pseudomonads, molds and yeasts, Enterobacteriaceae, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, sensory properties, pH, moisture and aw were studied. Moisture and aw decreased (p<0.05) in WP. pH decreased in WP and MAP during storage. MTVC and PTVC counts increased to values around 7logCFU/g at 44days of storage. LAB and Enterobacteriaceae counts were higher (p<0.05) in VP. Pseudomonads were inhibited (p<0.05) by MAP after 8days of storage. Sensory parameters were affected (p<0.05) by packaging and storage time. Globally, MAP performed better.

Effect of organic acids on the quality of sheep “buchada”: From food safety to physicochemical, nutritional, and sensorial evaluation

“…Good manufacturing practices, vacuum packaging, and refrigeration were probably determinant factors in the conservation of the microbiological quality of sheep buchadas (Santos et al, ). Our findings are in agreement with data reported by Pereira et al () who did not detect C. perfringens, L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. In any “Morcela de Arroz,” a cooked bold sausage from Monchique region of Portugal.…”

“…Consumption of meat products based on by‐products (viscera and blood) is common in several countries, for example, Morcilla de Burgos in Spain (Santos et al, ), Cavourmas in Greece (Arvanitoyannis, Bloukas, Pappa, & Psomiadou, ), Morcela de Arroz , Chouriço and Beloura in Portugal (Pereira, Dionísio, Patarata, & Matos, ; Todorov, Ho, Vaz‐Velho, & Dicks, ), Krvavica in Slovenia (Gašperlin, Skvarča, Žlender, Lušnic, & Polak, ), and Buchada in Brazil (Queiroz et al, ). These by‐products are responsible for adding value to meat production and reducing the environmental impact caused by their limited disposal (Toldrá et al, ).…”

“…Several studies have sought alternatives to increase the shelf life through the use of appropriate packaging (Cachaldora, Garcia, Lorenzo, & Garcia‐Fontán, ; Domínguez et al, ; Gómez & Lorenzo, ; Lorenzo, Batlle, & Gómez, ; Lorenzo & Gómez, ; Nikmaram et al, ; Pereira, Dionísio, Patarata, & Matos, ; Silva et al, ), the addition of antioxidants (Fernandes, Trindade, Lorenzo, Munekata, & de Melo, ; Lorenzo, Munekata et al, ; Lorenzo, Pateiro et al, ; Munekata et al, ; Pateiro, Lorenzo, Amado, & Franco, ), or the usage of new technologies (Gómez et al, ; Santos et al, ).…”

Closing gaps for performing a risk assessment on Listeria monocytogenes in ready‐to‐eat (RTE) foods: activity 1, an extensive literature search and study selection with data extraction on L. monocytogenes in a wide range of RTE food

“…This was the case of the study of the packaging technology in the cooked meat product Morcela de arroz (Pereira et al, 2015), the storage temperature for charcoal-broiled fish (Merivirta et al, 2003), brine salted versus unsalted cheese (Mucchetti et al, 2008) and the sous vide cooking of meat, fish and produce based products (Sebastia et al, 2010). In some cases the pathogen was not detected in any analysed sample.…”

Evaluation of physicochemical properties and microbial attributes of cooked sausages stuffed in casing modified by surfactants and lactic acid after immersion vacuum cooling and long‐term storage

“…The moisture content of MCCC sausages at day 21 (52.52 ± 0.11%) was significantly lower than that at day 1 (53.63 ± 0.01%) ( P < 0.05). The water depleted by microorganism during storage may account for this phenomenon (Chaves‐López et al ., ; Pereira et al ., ). As shown in Table , TVC in MCCC at day 21 (5.13 ± 0.11 log cfu g −1 ) was significantly lower than that at day 1 (1.26 ± 0.21 log cfu g −1 ) ( P < 0.05).…”