Effect of packaging and storage conditions on development of warmed-over flavour in sliced, cooked meat

Abstract

The development of warmed-over flavour (WOF) in a pilot-scale experiment was followed by sensory evaluation and three objective methods (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, relative hexanal content, and fluorescent lipid oxidation products) during 14 days of chill storage at 4° C of sliced, cooked lean beef using three different packaging conditions: (1) in air in a polyethylene foil (PE); (2) in 99% vacuum in a laminate foil with low oxygen transmission rate (VAC); (3) in a modified atmosphere (30% CO2/70% N2) in a laminate foil with low oxygen transmission rate (MAP). Each of the objective methods correlated well with the sensory evaluation. The sensory quality of the meat packed in PE was clearly inferior to the VAC and MAP packed meat, having less meat taste and a perceptible degree of WOF when reheated after only 1 day of storage, increasing to an unacceptable level within 3 days of storage. In contrast, the sensory quality of the VAC and MAP packed meat remained high throughout the storage period. Irrespective of packaging method, no effect of light during the chill storage period on the development of WOF was detected. MAP packaging for precooked beef was tested on a larger scale in a senior citizen food service system. The results showed that in a practical application of MAP the major problem in avoiding WOF was the achievement of a sufficiently low residual oxygen content in the packages.