Improved microbial and sensory quality of chicken meat by treatment with lactic acid, organic acid salts and modified atmosphere packaging

Abstract

Microbial contamination and growth play important roles in spoilage and quality loss of raw poultry products. We evaluated the suitability of three commercially available organic acid based antimicrobial compounds, Purac FCC80 (L-lactic acid), Verdad N6 (buffered vinegar fermentate) and Provian K (blend of potassium acetate and diacetate) to prevent growth of the innate microbiota, reduce spoilage and enhance the sensory quality of raw chicken under vacuum, high CO 2 (60/40% CO 2 /N 2 ), and high O 2 (75/25% O 2 /CO 2 ) modified atmosphere (MA) storage conditions. Solutions were applied warm (50 • C) or cold (4 • C) to reflect treatments prior to (Prechill) or after (Postchill) cooling of chicken carcasses, respectively. Single postchill treatments of raw chicken wings with 5% Verdad N6 or Provian K solutions and MA storage enabled complete growth inhibition during the first seven days of storage before growth resumed. Enhanced bacterial control was obtained by combining Prechill lactic acid and Postchill Verdad N6 or Provian K treatments which indicated initial reductions up to 1.1 log and where total bacterial increase after 20 days storage was limited to 1.8-2.1 log. Antibacterial effects were dependent on the concentration of the inhibiting salts used, pH and the storage conditions. Bacterial community analyses showed increased relative levels of Gram-positive bacteria and with reductions of potential spoilage organisms in samples treated with the organic acid salts Verdad N6 and Provian K. Sensory analyses of raw, treated wings showed prominent lower scores in several spoilage associated odour attributes when compared with untreated chicken wings after 13 days storage. For heat-treated chicken, only minor differences for 22 tested attributes were detected between seven antimicrobial treatments and untreated control chicken. Immersion in commercially available organic acid/salt solutions combined with MA storage can reduce bacterial levels, improve microbial and sensory quality, and potentially improve shelf life and reduce food waste of chicken products.

Approaching to biogenic amines as quality markers in packaged chicken meat

“…So, to an effective cool chain and MAP packaging, further physical or chemical strategies could be tested to improve the food safety, microbial quality, and shelf life of chicken meat (83). However, BAI can be considered as a useful tool to monitoring the effectiveness of technological treatments, being an indirect index of microbial spoilage and directly involved in toxicity events.…”

Volatile Fatty Acids Effective as Antibacterial Agents against Three Enteric Bacteria during Mesophilic Anaerobic Incubation

“…Organic acids have mostly been used by the food industry and, therefore, tested against foodborne pathogens during food and feed production [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Previous studies on the effects of different doses of organic acids on meat spoilage bacteria [28,29], Clostridium perfringens and C. difficile [30,31], Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli [32], enteropathogenic bacteria [14], demonstrated that they have the potential to act as antimicrobial agents. However, their antibacterial efficacy against enteric pathogens in the environment has not been fully explored, particularly in biological waste treatment plants where VFAs are produced as intermediates of such processes.…”

Applications of water activated by ozone, electrolysis, or gas plasma for microbial decontamination of raw and processed meat

“…Traditional meat processing line usually involves cleaning and disinfection steps to reduce pathogens (Smith et al, 2015) . Some of the most common conventional mild processing technologies used for the decontamination of commercial meat products include physical treatments, i.e., washing Sá Júnior et al (2021), steaming (Dixon et al, 2019), chemical treatments, i.e., organic acids (Heir et al, 2022), chlorinated chemicals (Kocharunchitt et al, 2020), hydrogen peroxide (Walsh et al, 2018), phosphate-based compounds (Sallam L. et al, 2020). Sodium hypochlorite is one of the most used, efficient, available, and low-cost disinfectants.…”