Effects of duration and temperature of frozen storage on the quality and food safety characteristics of pork after thawing and after storage under modified atmosphere

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the duration of frozen storage (12 and 24 weeks) and the storage temperature (-18 °C or - 80 °C) on the shelf life of pork in MAP for up to 14 days after thawing. Frozen meat was compared to unfrozen meat in different physicochemical and microbiological parameters. The parameters a*, b*, pH value, cooking loss, shear force and antioxidant activity showed no significant changes depending on the freezing process. The total moisture loss was significantly higher for frozen/thawed pork compared to unfrozen pork. The storage loss of all frozen samples showed higher values than the unfrozen samples on all examination days. The level of TBARS reached comparable values for all experimental groups. On examination days 7 and 14, significantly lower values of total plate count (TPC) and Pseudomonas spp. were measured for frozen pork compared to unfrozen pork. The temperature of frozen storage had no significant influence on the quality of pork.

Keywords: Duration; Food safety; Frozen storage; Meat quality; Modified atmosphere; Pork; Temperature.