Combined Effects of Mugwort Herb and Vitamin C on Shelf-Life of Vacuum-Packed Seasoned Pork

Insights into the Identification of the Specific Spoilage Organisms in Chicken Meat

Poultry meat deterioration is caused by environmental conditions, as well as proliferation of different bacterial groups, and their interactions. It has been proposed that meat spoilage involves two bacterial groups: one group that initiates the deterioration process, known as specific spoilage organisms (SSOs), and the other known as spoilage associated organisms (SAOs) which represents all bacteria groups recovered from meat samples before, during, and after the spoilage process. Numerous studies have characterized the diversity of chicken meat SAOs; nonetheless, the identification of the SSOs remains a long-standing question. Based on recent genomic studies, it is suggested that the SSOs should possess an extensive genome size to survive and proliferate in raw meat, a cold, complex, and hostile environment. To evaluate this hypothesis, we performed comparative genomic analyses in members of the meat microbiota to identify microorganisms with extensive genome size and ability to cause chicken meat spoilage. Our studies show that members of the Pseudomonadaceae family have evolved numerous biological features such as large genomic size, slow-growing potential, low 16S rRNA copy number, psychrotrophic, and oligotrophic metabolism to initiate the spoilage of poultry meat. Moreover, inoculation experiments corroborated that these biological traits are associated with the potential to cause chicken meat deterioration. Together, these results provide new insights into the identification of SSO. Further studies are in progress to elucidate the impact of the SSO on meat quality and microbiota diversity.

Kimchi extracts as inhibitors of colour deterioration and lipid oxidation in raw ground pork meat during refrigerated storage

BACKGROUND

Kimchi is a Korean, traditional fermented food made from Korean cabbage, radish, fermented jeotgal, ginger, garlic, and red pepper powder. It is a good source of natural antioxidants such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, vitamins, and carotenoids. In this study, the antioxidant effects of various kimchi extracts on raw ground pork during refrigerated storage were investigated. Raw ground pork samples were treated with ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxyl toluene, baechu kimchi extract (BKE), gat kimchi extract (GKE), puchu kimchi extract (PKE), and white kimchi extract (WKE) and compared with raw ground pork without antioxidant treatment (NC).

RESULTS

Increased metmyoglobin (MetMb), thiobarbituric acid reacting substance (TBARS), and total bacterial counts (TBC) were observed in all meat samples after storage, whereas pH, lightness, and redness values tended to decrease with increased storage time. All treated samples had lower TBARS and MetMb values and TBC compared to the control samples. Various kimchi ethanol extracts protected raw ground pork from lipid oxidation. The most potent antioxidant was GKE, whereas WKE was the weakest.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that the tested extracts, especially kimchi, have potential as natural preservatives to reduce colour degradation, lipid oxidation, and bacterial count in raw ground pork meat. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Quality characteristics of pork loin cured with green nitrite source and some organic acids

This study was conducted to improve the quality characteristics of cured meat with natural nitrite. Control and treatment were conducted as follows: nitrite free, marinated with sodium nitrite and ascorbic acid, marinated with only fermented spinach (FS), and marinated with FS adding ascorbic acid, malic acid, citric acid, and tartaric acid. Treatments were pickled with regulated brine (8% salt and 0.08% nitrite). Cured meat with FS adding ascorbic acid, malic acid, and citric acid had higher redness values than sodium nitrite with ascorbic acid on cooked meat. There was a positive effect on lipid oxidation except for citric acid. Protein degradation appeared more in malic acid and tartaric acid treatment than others. Residual nitrite level was lower when adding organic acids. Among various organic acid, ascorbic acid had the highest efficient on quality properties of cured meat. Thus, ascorbic acid was a proper ingredient when curing meat product.

Effect of fermented red beet extracts on the shelf stability of low-salt frankfurters

The effect of fermented red beet (FRB) on shelf-life of low-salt frankfurters stored for 4 weeks was investigated. The pH, volatile basic nitrogen (VBN), lightness, and yellowness of frankfurters decreased with increasing levels of FRB, whereas the redness of frankfurters increased with increasing levels of FRB. The VBN, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance values, total viable count, and redness of all treatments decreased with increasing period of refrigeration storage. The appearance, color, and juiciness scores of the control and treatments decreased with increasing period of refrigeration storage. However, there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference among the treatments except for the color of T3 (3.0% FRB) and juiciness of T4 (5.0% FRB). The flavor, tenderness, and overall acceptability scores of all the treatments decreased with increasing storage periods. These results demonstrated that FRB can be added to low-salt frankfurters to maintain their qualities and extend the shelf-life of refrigerated storage.