Food grade vinegar acts as an effective tool for short-term meat preservation

Abstract

The study was designed to evaluate the physico-chemical, microbial and sensorial quality of beef incorporated with different levels of vinegar at refrigerated storage (4±1ºC). Fresh beef samples were divided into three different batches i.e. T0 = control (without vinegar), T1 = 5% vinegar and T2 = 10% vinegar. The samples were evaluated for sensory properties (color and flavor), physico-chemical properties (pH, cooking loss, FFA, POV and TBARS) and microbial counts (TVC, TCC and TYMC) on 0, 7 and 14 days of storage at 4ºC. The obtained results showed that addition of different levels of vinegar significantly (p<0.05) influenced on sensory, physico-chemical and microbiological properties compared to control samples. Comparatively better color and flavor were found in T1 and T2 respectively among the treatments (p<0.05). Lower pH was observed in T1 and T2 compared to control treatment. POV, FFA and TBARS values were found better in T1, whereas the other treatments fluctuated slightly. The lowest microbial counts were significantly lower in higher vinegar treated groups along with at different day’s intervals in TVC, TCC and TYMC (p<0.01). It might be stated from the experiment that vinegar is a means of fresh beef preservation for a short time. From this study, it also concluded that 10% vinegar is effective for short term preservation of beef satisfactorily at refrigerated condition.