Evaluation of carbon monoxide treatment in modified atmosphere packaging or vacuum packaging to increase color stability of fresh beef

摘要

Our goal was to obtain > 21 days red color stability for carbon monoxide (CO)-treated beef steaks in vacuum packaging (VP). In preliminary tests, pretreatment for 24 h in a 5/100 CO modified atmosphere package (MAP) was needed to maintain redness after re-packaging in VP. Pressure pretreatment with 5/100 CO for 2 h developed redness, but was impractical for large-scale application. Color stability and microbial load were then compared after treatment of steaks in 5/100 CO-MAP for 24 h, then VP; 100/100 CO- MAP for 1 h, then VP; steaks and ground beef in 0.5/100 CO-MAP, and steaks and ground beef in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wrap. Steaks remained red for 5, 6, 8 and < 1-week storage at 2℃, respectively. Steaks microbial load exceeded spoilage levels (> 10~6 cfu/ Cm~2) at 5, 6, 7 and ＜ 2-weeks, respectively. Thus, extended color stability in VP was achieved by pretreatment with 5/100 CO for 24 h or 100/100 CO for 1 h.