The objective of this study was to develop mathematical models for describing the
kinetic behavior of
Staphylococcus aureus
(
S.
aureus
) in seasoned beef jerky.
Seasoned beef jerky
was cut into 10-g pieces. Next, 0.1 mL of
S. aureus
ATCC13565
was inoculated into the samples to obtain 3 Log CFU/g, and the samples were
stored aerobically at 10°C, 20°C, 25°C, 30°C, and
35°C for 600 h.
S. aureus
cell counts were enumerated on
Baird Parker agar during storage. To develop a primary model, the Weibull model
was fitted to the cell count data to calculate
Delta
(required
time for the first decimal reduction) and
ρ
(shape of
curves). For secondary modeling, a polynomial model was fitted to the
Delta
values as a function of storage temperature. To
evaluate the accuracy of the model prediction, the root mean square error (RMSE)
was calculated by comparing the predicted data with the observed data. The
surviving
S. aureus
cell counts were decreased at all storage
temperatures. The
Delta
values were longer at 10°C,
20°C, and 25°C than at 30°C and 35°C. The secondary
model well-described the temperature effect on
Delta
with an
R
2
value of 0.920
.
In validation analysis,
RMSE
values of 0.325 suggested that the model
performance was appropriate.
S. aureus
in beef jerky survives
for a long period at low storage temperatures and that the model developed in
this study is useful for describing the kinetic behavior of
S.
aureus
in seasoned beef jerky.