Abstract
The effects of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) with various CO2 concentrations on the bacterial community and shelf-life of smoked chicken legs during 25 d of storage at 4 °C were evaluated herein. Four treatments were stored in pallets (PAL) and MAP under 20% (M20), 60% (M60), and 100% (M100) CO2, respectively. The results indicated that the MAP treatments provided the legs with higher redness and hardness and lower yellowness, luminance, and lipid oxidation, compared with the PAL treatment. In addition, the MAP treatments effectively inhibited the growth of viable bacteria, delayed bacterial spoilage, and extended the shelf-life of the samples. The M60 and M100 treatments had a better inhibition effect on bacteria. In terms of bacterial community, Carnobacterium, Pseudomonas, Brochothrix, and Lactococcus were the most predominant genera in the 25 d-stored MAP samples, with Carnobacterium maltaromaticum, Pseudomonas fragi, Shewanella baltica, and Lactococcus piscium being the dominant species. However, while the inhibition effects of the M60 and M100 treatments on the bacterial community at Day 25 were similar, the outer package of the M100 treatment collapsed. Overall, the M60 treatment may be a promising approach to improving the quality and extending the shelf-life of smoked chicken legs.
Highlights
Smoked chicken leg is a very popular ready-to-eat smoked poultry product in China.As a smoked meat product, it is favored by consumers because of its attractive sugarsmoked flavor and color [1]
The observed, and contrary-to-expected, increase in the initial pH of the various samples may be attributed to the following two factors: (i) the anaerobic environment with a high concentration of CO2 promoted the expression of arginine deiminase, alanine dehydrogenase, and tyrosine dehydrogenase in microorganisms such as Carnobacterium, which catalyze the production of ammonia and biogenic amines, maintaining the pH stability and weakening the antibacterial effect of the CO2 [24]; (ii) the accumulation of ammonia from the decomposition of nucleic bases and amino acid during the whole stages of the storage can lead to an increase in pH [11]
These results reveal an increase in the relative abundances of P. fragi and L. piscium with increased CO2 concentration in the Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) treatments
Summary
Smoked chicken leg is a very popular ready-to-eat smoked poultry product in China.As a smoked meat product, it is favored by consumers because of its attractive sugarsmoked flavor and color [1]. While the smoking process provides the chicken legs with a certain anti-corrosion ability, the high nutritional value and moisture content of the smoked chicken legs are compromised. Such products are often sold in pallets or unpackaged, facilitating the growth and reproduction of microorganisms, which lead to the loss of quality, e.g., slime formation, compromised texture, and an off flavor [2,3]. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is a proven preservation technology for maintaining the quality and extending the shelf-life of high-grade meat and ready-to-eat meat products [4] and is widely used in the marketplace [5]. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports of applying third-generation sequencing technology to monitor the bacterial communities in meat products with MAP
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