Abstract
The volatile profile of raw beef contains vital information related to meat quality and freshness. This qualitative study examines the effect of packaging system on the formation and release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from raw beef over time, relative to the packaging best before date (BBD). The three packaging systems investigated were modified atmospheric packaging, vacuum packaging, and cling-wrapped packaging. Porterhouse steak samples with the same BBD were analysed from 3 days before to 3 days after the BBD. VOCs were detected via preconcentration using solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography–accurate mass quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In total, 35 different VOCs were tentatively identified. Interestingly, there was no clear relationship of the VOCs detected between the three packaging systems, with only carbon disulphide and acetoin, both known volatiles of beef, detected in all three. This is the first study to investigate the effects of commercial packaging systems on VOC formation; it provides an understanding of the relationship of VOCs to the BBD that is essential for the development of on-pack freshness and quality sensors.
Highlights
Due to its nutritional quality, meat is an important component of the daily diet in many countries
Shorter sampling times resulted in poor S/N ratios, whilst longer sampling times allowed the sample temperature to rise above 10 ◦ C, which was deemed unacceptable as it could result in an analyte profile that was not consistent with the sample being stored in a refrigerated environment
This study focused on identifying volatile compounds as they are more relevant to the freshness of meat, whereas non-volatile compounds are typically related to the flavour profile
Summary
Due to its nutritional quality, meat is an important component of the daily diet in many countries. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are released as gases from the meat, are indicative of spoilage [2]. Packaged meat products have a conservative advertised best before date (BBD) to ensure customers consume the product prior to spoilage. The typical VOCs associated with raw meat and cooked samples include biogenic amines, sulphurous compounds, aldehydes, alcohols, nitrogenous compounds, ketones, hydrocarbons, and acids (Table S1). Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) combined with an appropriate gas chromatography technique has been used to detect VOCs [3,4]. Through a suitable interface design, it is compatible with a wide range of analytical instruments, though is mostly used for gas chromatography (GC) sample introduction [5]. Over 100 papers have investigated the analyte profile of cooked beef using SPME, or an alternate sampling technique.
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