A review on the relation between grinding process and quality of ground meat

This review is providing an overview of the actual and past research in the field of ground meat. The forces that are acting in the meat grinder are well understood. The higher the forces that are acting on the meat while grinding, the stronger the disintegration of the meat cells after the process. These forces can be calculated as energy transfer in meat grinders using specific mechanical energy (SME). The amount of non-intact cells (ANIC) can be used to describe the extent of disintegrated cells. Different methods are available to rate the quality of ground meat, which is mainly influenced by the raw material and processing. Over the past decades of industrialization, the landscape of ground meat production has changed. However, the effects of the process adjustments on the quality of ground meat are not yet sufficiently described in the literature.

Sustainable and Bio-Based Food Packaging: A Review on Past and Current Design Innovations

Food loss and waste occur for many reasons, from crop processing to household leftovers. Even though some waste generation is unavoidable, a considerable amount is due to supply chain inefficiencies and damage during transport and handling. Packaging design and materials innovations represent real opportunities to reduce food waste within the supply chain. Besides, changes in people's lifestyles have increased the demand for high-quality, fresh, minimally processed, and ready-to-eat food products with extended shelf-life, that need to meet strict and constantly renewed food safety regulations. In this regard, accurate monitoring of food quality and spoilage is necessary to diminish both health hazards and food waste. Thus, this work provides an overview of the most recent advances in the investigation and development of food packaging materials and design with the aim to improve food chain sustainability. Enhanced barrier and surface properties as well as active materials for food conservation are reviewed. Likewise, the function, importance, current availability, and future trends of intelligent and smart packaging systems are presented, especially considering biobased sensor development by 3D printing technology. In addition, driving factors affecting fully biobased packaging design and materials development and production are discussed, considering byproducts and waste minimization and revalorization, recyclability, biodegradability, and other possible ends-of-life and their impact on product/package system sustainability.

Application of intelligent packaging for meat products: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Today, in response to consumer demand and market trends, the development of new packaging with better performance such as intelligent packaging has become more important. This packaging system is able to perform intelligent functions to increase shelf life, increase safety and improve product quality.

OBJECTIVES

Recently, various types of packaging systems are available for meat products, especially cooked, fresh and processed meats. But because meat products are very perishable, monitoring their quality and safety in the supply chain is very important. This systematic article briefly reviews some of the recent data about the application of intelligent packaging in meat products.

METHODS

The search was conducted in Google Scholar, Science Direct, Elsevier, Springer, Scopus, and PubMed, from April 1996 to April 2021 using a different combination of the following keyword: intelligent packaging, and meat.

RESULTS

The results showed that the intelligent packaging presents several benefits compared to traditional packaging (e.g., antimicrobial, antioxidant, and shelf life extension) at the industrial processing level. Thus, these systems have been applied to improve the shelf life and textural properties of meat and meat products.

CONCLUSIONS

It is necessary to control the number of intelligent compounds that are included in the packaging as they clearly influence the quality and nutritional properties as well as the final cost of the food products.

Control of temperature dependence of microbial time-temperature integrator (TTI) by microencapsulation of lactic acid bacteria into microbeads with different proportions of alginate

This study has been conducted to investigate the temperature dependence and mass transfer kinetics of a microbial time-temperature integrator (TTI) developed by using emulsification/internal ionotropic gelation method. We report the effect of the Na-alginate concentrations (0.5%, 2.0%, 4.0% and 6.0% w/v) and temperature (8, 15, 20, 25 and 30 °C) on the TTI responses (changes in pH and titratable acidity [TA]). Results revealed that Ca-alginate microbeads (Ca-AMs) prepared from 2.0% Na-alginate were more uniform and smaller, with a narrow size distribution, in comparison with the other Ca-AMs. For microbeads with above 2.0% Na-alginate, the TTI response rates decreased because of the lower diffusion efficiency. Linearity in the TA was greatest for the 2.0% Ca-AMs. Therefore, the mass transfer and TTI response kinetics data demonstrated that 2.0% Na-alginate was optimal for producing Ca-AMs from which an ideal microbial TTI could be developed to monitor food spoilage processes with accuracy and precision.

Development of a freshness indicator for monitoring the quality of beef during storage

Quality of beef and detect changes in freshness during storage was evaluated using freshness indicator. The freshness indicator can indicate spoilage or freshness of the packaged product through color changes directly detected by the naked eye. We also monitored changes in pH, 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, volatile basic nitrogen, and total bacterial count. A change in the color of the indicator reflects the pH of the headspace of the beef packaging. Beef was stored at 20 °C for 24 h, after which the color of the freshness indicator changed. Results of color change from freshness indicator are similar to quality parameters including chemical, microbiological, and sensory evaluation that are commonly used to characterize the freshness of beef. The results show that this freshness indicator is useful for determining the shelf life of beef products by monitoring physicochemical changes and microbial safety.

Preliminary Study on Biosensor-Type Time-Temperature Integrator for Intelligent Food Packaging

A glucose biosensor was utilized as a platform for the time-temperature integrator (TTI), a device for intelligent food packaging. The TTI system is composed of glucose oxidase, glucose, a pH indicator, and a three-electrode potentiostat, which produces an electrical signal as well as color development. The reaction kinetics of these response variables were analyzed under isothermal conditions. The reaction rates of the electrical current and color changes were 0.0360 ± 0.0020 (95% confidence limit), 0.0566 ± 0.0026, 0.0716 ± 0.0024, 0.1073 ± 0.0028 µA/min, and 0.0187 ± 0.0005, 0.0293 ± 0.0018, 0.0363 ± 0.0012, 0.0540 ± 0.0019 1/min, at 5, 15, 25, and 35 °C, respectively. The Arrhenius activation energy of the current reaction (Ea_current) was 25.0 ± 1.6 kJ/mol and the Ea_color of the color reactions was 24.2 ± 0.6 kJ/mol. The similarity of these Ea shows agreement in the prediction of food qualities between the electrical signal and color development. Consequently, the function of the new time-temperature integrator system could be extended to that of a biosensor compatible with any electrical utilization equipment.

Guideline for proper usage of time temperature integrator (TTI) avoiding underestimation of food deterioration in terms of temperature dependency: A case with a microbial TTI and milk

Time-temperature integrators (TTIs) can be used to predict food deterioration. However, underestimation of the magnitude of deterioration is not desirable. This study aims to establish guidelines in terms of temperature dependency (Arrhenius activation energy, Ea) to avoid such underestimation by proper use of TTIs. A case study was executed with a microbial TTI and milk. The Ea of the TTI color change was 106 kJ/mol and those of milk deterioration factors aerobic mesophilic bacteria count, lactic acid bacteria count, ln lactic acid %, and pH were 101, 107, 122, and 145 kJ/mol, respectively. The deterioration factors with values of Ea larger than that of TTI, ln lactic acid %, LAB, and pH, were found to be underestimated as compared to their actual levels by prediction from TTI color change, leading to potential consumption of deteriorated milk.

Calibrations between the variables of microbial TTI response and ground pork qualities

A time-temperature indicator (TTI) based on a lactic acid bacterium, Weissella cibaria CIFP009, was applied to ground pork packaging. Calibration curves between TTI response and pork qualities were obtained from storage tests at 2°C, 10°C, and 13°C. The curves of the TTI vs. total cell number at different temperatures coincided to the greatest extent, indicating the highest representativeness of calibration, by showing the least coefficient of variance (CV=11%) of the quality variables at a given TTI response (titratable acidity) on the curves, followed by pH (23%), volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) (25%), and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) (47%). Similarity of Arrhenius activation energy (Ea) could also reflect the representativeness of calibration. The total cell number (104.9 kJ/mol) was found to be the most similar to that of the TTI response (106.2 kJ/mol), followed by pH (113.6 kJ/mol), VBN (77.4 kJ/mol), and TBARS (55.0 kJ/mol).