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The comparative effects of nitrogen and oxygen on the microflora of beef steaks in carbon dioxide‐containing modified atmosphere vacuum skin‐packaging (MA‐VSP) systems
Author(s) -
Coventry,
Hickey,
Mawson,
Drew,
Wan Wan,
Krause,
Boghossian
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1046/j.1472-765x.1998.00363.x
Subject(s) - modified atmosphere , carbon dioxide , food science , thiobarbituric acid , chemistry , nitrogen , oxygen , sensory analysis , vacuum packing , shelf life , zoology , biology , biochemistry , antioxidant , organic chemistry , lipid peroxidation
The effects of 80% oxygen–20% carbon dioxide (O 2 –CO 2 ) and 80% nitrogen–20% carbon dioxide (N 2 –CO 2 ) atmospheres were compared with respect to the microbial and sensory characteristics of vacuum skin‐packaged grain‐fed beef steaks stored at −1 and 4 °C. In both N 2 –CO 2 and O 2 –CO 2 atmospheres, lactobacilli were predominant over Brochothrix , pseudomonads, enterobacteria and yeasts and moulds. The results of the current investigation showed that the O 2 –CO 2 atmospheres did not yield total viable counts in excess of 10 5 cfu cm −2 on beef steaks after 4 weeks of storage. However, the sensory analysis and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values (as a measure of oxidative rancidity) of the products were unacceptable at this time. In contrast, the N 2 –CO 2 atmospheres yielded maximum total viable counts of approximately 10 7 cfu cm −2 and the sensory analysis and TBA values of the product were judged to be acceptable after 4 weeks of storage at −1 °C. These results indicate that sensory effects of the product were influenced to a greater extent by the chemical effects of high concentration of O 2 on rancidity than by the high levels of lactobacilli.