TBARS and microbial growth predicative models of pork sausage stored at different temperatures

Abstract

Kinetic models were developed for quality changes of emulsified pork sausages to predict the TBARS (2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substance) and TVC (total viable counts) changes at different temperatures during storage. Kinetic models of TBARS changes with respect to the temperature during storage were developed based on Arrhenius equation. The regression coefficients (R2 > 0.86) indicated the acceptability of the zero-order reaction and Arrhenius model for predicting TBARS changes. The activation energy (Ea) of TBARS was 109 kJ/mol and the corresponding rate constant (k0) was 2.6979 × 1018. External model validation was performed for the sausage stored at 12°C. A high correlation between the observed and modelled TBARS values as well as low RMSE level were obtained. The Baranyi model was fitted to the growth curves. The polynomial model predicted more accurately the influence of temperature on the growth rate, reaching the high adjusted determination coefficient (0.98). Therefore, the established models could effectively predict TBARS content and TVC growth in the emulsified pork sausages.