Quality changes of chicken breast meat packaged in a normal and in a modified atmosphere

Abstract

SUMMARY The present paper aimed at the assessment of the changes of quality and shelf life of chicken breast meat (musculus pectoralis) packed in an atmosphere of normal air (on polystyrene trays wrapped in PVC foil) and in a modified atmosphere (MAP) with a mixture of gases: 75% O2 and 25% CO2. Physicochemical (headspace gas composition in MAP packages, drip loss, pH value, color components in L*, a*, b*, thermal drip, and TBARS) and microbiological (total plate count, lactic acid bacteria, and Pseudomonas spp.) parameters were monitored for up to 9 d of storage in a cooling room or display case. Breast meat packaged in MAP was characterized by higher quality and longer shelf life in comparison to PVC-wrapped meat, which was exhibited by slower and less intensive quality changes. Moreover, storage of the chicken breast meat in the display case resulted in acceleration of negative changes occurring in the quality of the raw material during storage. The shelf life of the tested chicken breast meat wrapped in PVC foil and in MAP and stored in the cooling room was 8 and 9 d, respectively. Meat wrapped in PVC foil was characterized by unacceptable quality as soon as d 7 of storage in the display case, whereas the MAP meat was characterized by acceptable quality until the end of the experiment at 9 days. Thus, MAP packaging allows for the extension of the shelf life of meat in comparison to meat wrapped in PVC foil (in an atmosphere of normal air) by at least one d in the cooling room storage, and more importantly by 2 d for display case storage.