Physical Characteristics and Microbial Quality of Ostrich Meat in Relation to the Type of Packaging and Refrigerator Storage Time.

Olaf K Horbańczuk,Joanna Marchewka,Agnieszka Wierzbicka,Jarosław Wyrwisz,Artur Jóźwik

doi:10.3390/molecules26113445

Olaf K Horbańczuk, Joanna Marchewka + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113445

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the packaging system type on the physical characteristics and microbial changes in ostrich meat during refrigerated storage. The applied packaging systems were vacuum packaging (VP) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) using two combinations of gases: MAP1 (40% O2/40% CO2/20% N2) and MAP2 (60% O2/30% CO2/10% N2). Eight meat samples were obtained in three replicates for all parameters, except for pH, for which six replicates were obtained from the M. ilifibularis (IF) muscle, and were stored in a refrigerator at 2 °C and analyzed at 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 days for the effect of packaging methods on physical meat quality. The initial pH (5.99) decreased at the end of the storage time for MAP1 to 5.81, whereas VP was stable from day 0 to 12 and increased up to 6.08 on day 16. Regarding meat color, the L* value increased during storage for MAP1 and MAP2 from 36.99 to 40.75 and 41.60, respectively, whereas it declined for VP to 34.22. The same tendencies were reported for redness (a*) and yellowness (b*). Drip loss was the lowest in MAP1 and highest in VP. The lowest total viable bacteria counts were identified in VP, as compared to MAP1 and MAP2.

Highlights

Ostrich meat is recognized as a dietetic product with high nutritive value [1,2,3] and is becoming increasingly popular, in South Africa and in Asia, South America, North America, and Europe [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
The aim of the study was to assess the changes in the physical characteristics and microbial quality of ostrich meat packed in vacuum (VP) and modified atmosphere (MAP) using two combinations of gases, O2:CO2:N2, i.e., 40:40:20 (MAP 1) and 60:30:10 (MAP 2), during refrigerated storage up to 16 days
In the case of the modified atmosphere (MAP1) packaging system using a combination of gases (O2:CO2:N2, i.e., 40:40:20), the initial pH (5.99) on day 0 decreased at the end of storage time to 5.81 (p ≤ 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Ostrich meat is recognized as a dietetic product with high nutritive value [1,2,3] and is becoming increasingly popular, in South Africa and in Asia, South America, North America, and Europe [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. 500 tons per year [11] This meat, dark red in color, is characterized by higher pH (about 6) as compared to beef or pork [12,13,14]. Meat is most often packed in vacuum and modified atmosphere packaging. MAP prolongs shelf life with aerobic packaging conditions and results in a more attractive bright red color due to myoglobin oxygenation [21]. Until now, investigation on ostrich meat quality, shelf life, packaging type and storage is still limited. The aim of the study was to assess the changes in the physical characteristics and microbial quality of ostrich meat packed in vacuum (VP) and modified atmosphere (MAP) using two combinations of gases, O2:CO2:N2, i.e., 40:40:20 (MAP 1) and 60:30:10 (MAP 2), during refrigerated storage up to 16 days

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